All the Fleeting Moments
by Lamanth
Summary: Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. Sasuke/Ino.
1. Intro

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

**All the Fleeting Moments**

Basically this is going to be a collection of drabbles with the pairing Sasuke/Ino, sometimes it'll be really easy to see the pairing's there other time you'll have to stand on your head and squint and even then you still might miss it.

To save confusion, or to at lest try to, I thought I'd better point out a few things to start with.

1) The drabbles are all individual stories on their own and are not connected to each other unless otherwise stated. Also they do NOT follow any particular timeline.

2) I was given a list of prompts to work from, each prompt forming the title of a drabble which kinda effected what I could write for them. So some will be better than others and some probably shouldn't really be seeing the light of day. Also they well vary in length, depending on how good the idea was and when the words decided they didn't want to do what they were told anymore. So some will be short, some not so short and some I'll be lucky if I get a full sentence.

3) I have this wonderful little thing I use called 'poetic licence' which basically is my excuse for changing anything I want to make the story in question work. I may have random characters dead to fit the plot I have and just things like that. Some will also be AU (alternate universe) fics simply because I couldn't make the prompts work otherwise.

4) Please don't flame just because you don't like the pairing. If you don't like it then just don't read it, it's better for everyone that way.

5) Ideally I'd like two reviews before I update (I hate it when people hold chapters to ransom but I've always wanted to say that) but I'll probably try and up date at least once a week anyway. And the first person to review a drabble will have the next one dedicated to them, just cus it's easier for me that way.

6) I'm dyslexic so spelling mistakes and dubious punctuation are par for the cores.

I dedicate this endeavour to my friend and fellow Sasuke/Ino fanatic **pixieface Lust**, love ya bubs.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	2. Waiting

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I have to say, I had fun writing this one and I like the way it turned out.

**Muse:** All props to me for the idea!

_Dedi:_ Big head. This drabble it dedicated to **pixieface Lust**.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Promise me you'll wait for me,  
'cause I'll be saving all my love for you,  
And I will be home soon,  
Promise me you you'll wait for me,  
I need to know you feel the same way too,  
And I'll be home, I'll be home soon,_

* * *

**Waiting**

Ino couldn't place what it was that woke her. Strange half formed dreams tugged her in sleep, pulling her mind this way and that until she felt she was running blindly through a maze of her own making. And then suddenly she was staring wide-eyed at the full moon, hanging like a milk glass sphere framed by her window. The soft pale light gilding everything it touched with a bright shimmering silver edge.

Goosebumps rippled across the blonde's body and a feeling swelled within her, a feeling that reminded her inescapably of being six-years-old and waking early on Christmas morning. The same flickering joy at catching that first wondrous glimpse of wrapped parcels under the tree sent butterflies wild in her stomach for reasons she didn't understand.

Throwing back the covers, Ino slipped out of bed and crossed to the open window and gazed out at the sleeping world. A soft summer wind was dancing through the starlit night and it caught and played with the light gold strands of her hair, sending it streaming out behind her like a banner. For a moment Ino felt as if she were riding on the crest of a wave, that she was on the verge of something that would change the shape of her life as she knew it.

Not caring about the lateness of the hour or the fact that she was only clad in her pyjamas, a light purple strap top and black shorts, knowing only that it was the right thing to do, Ino climbed through the window and leapt lightly to the street below. The night was like a person that wrapped its arms around the blue eyed girl as she stood unmoving waiting for her feet to tell her where she should be.

With quick light steps she turned and began to slowly jog through the still silent streets, until she found herself on the main road of Konoha. The main road out of the hidden village, and also there for the main road in. Fear and excitement bubbled with Ino and she felt as if she were back inside her dream. As if she were searching for something, but wouldn't know what it was until she found it.

Blonde strands, glowing silver in the light flew out behind her as her stride lengthened until she was running towards the village gate, the slightly downwards curve of the road adding speed to swift flight. Ino felt almost as if she were part of the very wind its self that her body was merly an extension of the currents on which she was soaring like a bird. And in only a few passing moments the gate was before her.

The land stretched out before her painted in the monochrome of dark shadows and dazzling moonlight. In that instant the world seemed to be holding its breath and Ino felt every fibber of her being reaching out into the void, reaching out for something that she could not see clearly. Indistinct shadows, strange and yet somehow familiar.

Her breath hitched in her throat in a way that had nothing to do with the distance she had just run, but the sense of nervous anticipation that was coursing through her. Ino's eyes darted from shadow to shadow looking for anything out of the ordinary to latch onto. Her imagination conjuring up strange figments in the empty landscape.

And then suddenly a movement, where by all rights everything should have, been still. The darkness was drawing together, a shape forming as she watched. A silhouette against the star strewn sky, an outline as well known to her as the beating of her own heart. A long lost figure growing steadily closer until she could have reached out and brushed sooty bangs from the eyes that had mesmerised her from the first time she saw them.

"Sas…Sasuke-kun?" Hope leapt in her chest, bright and shinning like a star carved from ice.

"Ino. What are you doing here?" The voice was just as she remembered it, the tone smooth and dark even if the affection it held was unfamiliar.

"Waiting." The whispered confession sounded like a guilty secret in the dark, but he simply tilted his head slightly the better to study her face.

"For me?" The unspoken meaning behind the question cased her heart to skip and she knew that she didn't need to run through mazes anymore for she had found what it was she had search so desperately for. She'd found him.

The warmth in his eyes told her all that she needed to know and without hesitation she dove into the waiting circle of his arms. "Who else?"

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Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	3. Eyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Ok, here's the second instalment of my drabble collection, and sorry this one's shorter than the first.

**Muse:** Bit thanks to **WolfFlowerz**, Yoruichi 'Ino', **InoxSasukeSOS**, mdv, **pixieface Lust**, Rainforestfrogs and **iluvkiba44**, who all reviewed that last drabble. Cookies for you all.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_In your eyes I lost my place,  
Could stay a while,  
And I'm melting in your eyes,  
Like my first time that I caught fire,  
Just stay with me lay with me now,_

* * *

**Eyes**

His eyes were the thing, she would reflect, sitting behind the counter in her parents flower shop, the scent on the many blooms heavy in the air. She thinks she would be able to lead a happy and normal life without him, if it weren't for his eyes.

Such strange eyes, that had captured her imagination for the first moment she had seen them. Quiet eyes, which gave away not a hint of his mood if he did not wish them to. The rich dark onyx that at times seemed to be looking right through her. True enough, at times it felt wonderful to be so well understood, but at others…

An almost imperceptible tremble ran through the blonde, causing goosebumps to erupt across the smooth plains of her skin. There were times when he would turn that gaze on her…it was as if he could read the words printed on her soul. It felt like an invasion almost, she was naked and bare under that cold burning gaze.

It could at times, be consider almost as a violation her, that there was not a secret she could keep from him. There was no way it could be considered normal, she mused, to want to hide yourself from the eyes of the one you loved. To want to run and never have to face that all-seeing, all knowing look again. But the fear that filled her at the thought of never basking in the warmth of his gaze filled her with terror.

The small bell that hung over the shop's door tinkled softly, indicating to the blonde that someone had entered the florists and pulling her out of revelry. Hitching a bright welcoming smile onto her lips she looked up and felt her heart flutter in her chest, like a wild bird trying to bake free from a cage.

Somehow the world was fading around her, everything slowly slipping back into a gathering gloom until there were only the dark orbs that were watching her intently, a kaleidoscope of thoughts and feelings passing before her eyes. Pride, hunger, restlessness, a calm self-assured sensuality and dare she even say it to her self perhaps even love? And behind them all was something warm and dark and the blonde could not help but tremble again as she looked on it.

Yes, Ino Yamanaka thinks she could lead a happy and normal life if it weren't for the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.

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Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	4. Pen and Paper

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Well here's number three, I had fun writing this and I hope you all have fun reading it.

**Muse:** Thank you's to **Coco-Minu, **pixieface Lust, **InoxSasukeSOS, **Yoruichi 'Ino', **Drunksonic, **AkemiYumikov3 and **InoSasu lovr** for their reviews. (hands out Sasuke plushies)

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Coco-Minu.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_I'm not gonna write you a love song,  
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this,  
If you're on your way,  
I'm not gonna write you... to stay,  
If your heart is nowhere in it,  
I don't want it for a minute,  
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that,  
There's a reason to write you... a love song today,_

* * *

**Pen and Paper**

Irritably Ino threw down her pen on top of the open notebook that sat on the counter in the Yamanaka flower shop. She was meant to be working, but in the three hours since her shift had begun the blonde had had to deal with one sole customer which had taken up all of about five minuets. So she had slipped out her notebook and right back into the old habit of sitting tapping her pen on the blank page while her mind constantly returned to the one person she was finding it impossible to get out of her head. Sasuke Uchiha.

It was bloody infuriating; she was a Yamanaka after all. She was meant to get inside other peoples heads not let them get inside her own. But that was just what he'd done, he was in her head, constantly on her mind and there was nothing she could do to get rid of him. Sighing to herself as she retrieved her pen from where it had rolled onto the floor, Ino reflected that it was almost better when he had simply ignored her 24/7 at least she knew how to deal with that.

But somewhere along the line their relationship, if it could have been called one to start with, had changed. Since his return to Konoha he had been less hostile towards her, true enough she was also far less clingy and obsessive than she had once been, but that alone was not enough to explain the change in him. Why he would call out to her if he saw her walking down the street. Suddenly turn up in her family's shop and talk with her about nothing in particular. Sometimes he would even come down to the training ground and offer to spar with her for no reason she could think of.

All of which in its self was fine and good, indeed it was the very attention she had once craved from him. The only thing that really got to Ino was how inconsistent he could be. One day he would be fine with her, treating her like a friend, actively seeking her out to spend time with and then the next he would completely blank her. She could be walking down the road and call out a greeting only to have him turn his back and walk off, acting for all the world as if he didn't know she existed.

_**CONFUSING! **_

Ino scrawled the word across the page, the black ink standing out in stark contrast against the whiteness of the page, and in some irresistible way reminding her of Sasuke's eyes. Mentally cursing herself for being so…so…well she didn't know exactly what, but whatever it was she didn't like it. Growling to herself as she half slumped over, half leaned on the counter; her head was too full of things she didn't understand. In an absent-minded sort of way she let her hand drift over the page, letting her thoughts and feeling spill out unchecked. Who knew, maybe they'd make more sense when she saw then written out before her?

There were times when she was sorely tempted to use one of her Jutsus on him, just to be ably to get inside his head and find out what was going on. But she didn't. Aside form it being one hell of an invasion of privacy and the fact that he might well try and kill her afterwards, Ino was slightly worried of what she might find out.

Only last week in a fit of peek she had ranted about him to Sakura, bemoaning how it was impossible to have any sort of friendship with someone who constantly blew hot and cold the way he did. The pink haired kunoichi had only shaken her head and laughed as her friend had huffed and raged for the best part of an hour before eventually flinging herself into a chair and glaring at the world in general.

"Why is it so hard for us to just be normal friends?" she'd moaned, baby blue eyes staring appealingly as Sakura "He's your friend, so it's not like he doesn't understand what the whole friendship thing's about. That excuse works for Sai, but not for Sasuke."

Sakura had just laughed harder at this, and reflected that maybe there was something behind the whole 'dumb blonde' thing after all.

"Because Ino-Pig, friendship isn't what he wants from you." The baffled look on the blonde's face had Sakura almost breathless from giggles. "He likes you, you idiot, as in really likes you. But thing is under that whole 'Uchiha Prodigy' thing he's still just a guy, so he has no idea what to do about it."

Ino tapped the page with her pen in a reflective way; she still didn't know what to make of Sakura's revelation. There was no reason for her friend to lie about something like that, but there was also no way for her to know whether or not it was true, well except for one. But the idea of straight out asking Sasuke if he liked her was one that made Ino balk.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled the blonde back into the moment, and she looked up to see a pair of very intent, very dark eyes staring down at the page that was covered in her random scrawling. Ino's eyes drifted from the page to Sasuke's face and back again. His name was literally all over it, along with all the questions that had been filling her head since her conversation with Sakura.

She could feel the blush burring her cheeks and at that moment was quite prepared that even Hinata had never been as red as she was now. His eyes, unreadable as always, looked up form the open notebook and focused intently on her face. Unsure what she should do, Ino opened her mouth to explain or apologies or something, but was cut off before she could start as his lips pressed firmly against her own.

It only took a moment for her shock to fade and her hands to entwine in his hair, as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto the counter. Well, Ino thought, that certainly sorted that out, maybe sitting down with a pen and paper really was the way to sort your problems out.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	5. Words

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Round four, and I guess you could call this my pathetic attempt a humour. Don't say you weren't warned.

**Muse:** Thanks and cupcakes to **InoxSasukeSOS**, Drunksonic, **mdv**, ..., **InoSasu lovr**, Yoruichi 'Ino', **AkemiYumikov3** and pixieface Lust for reviewing the last drabble.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **InoxSasukeSOS.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_She's cold and she's cruel,  
But she knows what she's doin',  
Knows just what to say,  
So my whole day is ruined,  
Cause she's bittersweet,  
She knocks me off of my feet,_

* * *

**Words**

"Sticks and stones may brake my bones, but words can never hurt me." Sasuke smirked at the clearly irate blonde. "Or don't you know anything Yamanaka?"

Which was the point when the dictionary she had been holding connected with the side of his head. The boy yelled and nearly fell sideways off of his chair, which attracted the attention of the remainder of the class that had not been listening in on his verbal sparring match.

Shrieks of laughter and catcalls filled the air, as students pointed at the ruffled Uchiha, who was pulling himself back onto his seat and trying to bat away the not so helpful hands of Sakura Haruno.

"Huh? What's dat?" the slightly dazed question came for the far end of the classroom, seemingly Kakashi-sensei had looked up from is novel of pornographic excellence to find his students in up roar.

"Oh nothing," Temari said grinning maliciously at Sasuke who was still trying to fend off the pink haird girl. "Sasuke was just saying how words couldn't hurt him and then Ino proved him wrong."

Another out brake of laughter filled that air, and Sasuke scowled as the two blondes high-fived each other, both clearly riding high on a wave of self-satisfaction. It wasn't as if it had been that funny, he thought and it was only by luck that she had managed to hit him with that damned book.

Without thinking, he retched up and prodded the lump that was already starting to form on the back of his head. Words don't hurt – dictionary hits you in the back of the head, talk about irony. Sasuke glared once more at Ino, whose only reply was a cheekily blown kiss, before returning his attention to the debate that was going on between Kakashi-sensei and the rest of the class.

"Yes, well let this be a lesson to all of you." Kakashi was saying, nodding his head in what he obviously thought was a knowing sage like manner.

"What sensei? That words can hurt?" Naruto called across the classroom, forehead furrowed in confusion. "Or that Sasuke-teme can be taken out by a girl?"

"Don't call him that Naruto!" Sakura screeched trying to lean over the desk in front of her and pushing a sniggering Kiba out of the way so she could hit the blond.

"No," Their sensei sighed, shaking his head at his pupil's failure to understand. "That girls always fight dirty."

The noise level shot to a point just short of the pain threshold at this statement. Boys laughed and hooted, then yelled as indignantly protesting girls slapped and threw things at them. It was such a waste of words, Kakashi thought as he watched Ino tackled a smirking Sasuke to the floor; the ones in his book after all were far better.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	6. Silence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I have to say I think this is the perfect way for Sasuke to shut Ino up.

**Muse:** A big thank you to **...,** pixieface Lust, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** AkemiYumikov3, **InoSasu lovr** and mdv for their reviews. hands out bread and jam

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **...**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Everybody says that I'm looking for a home now,  
Looking for a boy or I'm looking for a girl now,  
I can still let it go, I can still learn to grow,  
Into a child again,  
Silence is easy, it just becomes me,_

* * *

**Silence**

_Right this is it_, Ino told herself as she stood in front of the door waiting for Sasuke to come and let her in. True she had her own key, but some how since the point of this visit was to give back said key she didn't think letting herself in would be the right thing to do. It had just been one fight too many and she had decided that it was time to call it quits for both their sakes.

Sasuke pulled open the door and looked at the blonde standing on his doorstep. For a moment his brow furrowed in confusion as if wondering why she hadn't just let herself in as she normally did, and then he was turning on his heel and walking back down the hall way, leaving the door open for Ino to enter. Stepping into the hallway she breathed deeply, drawing in the clear fresh scent that filled the air, and would always somehow be the smell of home.

Wandering down the corridor, Ino entered the living room and tried not to focus on the way Sasuke was half sitting half lounging on the sofa. All of the times for him to for go warring a shirt, why did it have to be today? Ino mentally wailed. Sure the sight of a naked Sasuke was one she was well used too, but that didn't mean she was in anyway immune to it. And even when he was just sat there doing nothing at all he had this curtain way of grabbing her attention which made thinking impossible, and right now she needed to think.

"Sasuke, I just came to give you this back." Ino stretched out her hand towards him, the key dangling from her finger. It was attached to a silver ring, which in turn was attached to two charms; a silver fan, the symbol of the Uchiha clan and a leaf the village symbol, also in silver.

Unblinking onyx eyes looked up at her, their expression impassive but he made no move to take the offered key from her hand. "Sasuke, please."

Ino could feel the tension building within her, the tight ball noted in her chest, expanding and sending tendrils of anxiety rushing through her blood stream. She had known it was pointless really, there was no way that he was just going to let her walk away like this. Blue eyes flitted around the room, searching for anything to fix on just so she wouldn't have to look at him, because whenever she looked at Sasuke the rest of the world would fade away until her whole universe was filled with nothing but him.

Unable to stop herself, Ino let her eyes drift to his face and saw one dark brow raise in a silent question. And in spite of her intention of just getting in and out as quickly as she could found herself compelled to speak, to try and make him see why it had to be this way.

"Just take them, Sasuke. It's over, we're over. Hell we were over before we even started, you know everyone was right when they said that we'd never make it. That we're wrong for each other. All we ever do is fight, you can't tell me that's right. If it were right, if we were right we wouldn't keep hurting each other all the time. We always hurt. It's not that I don't love you, cus I do. I love you more than I can say and it's cus I do that I know we can't go on like this..."

She was rambling, she knew it. But Ino couldn't seem to stop the words now they had started and Sasuke was just sitting there looking at her. His eyes were fixed on her face, their expression unreadable and Ino felt that they were two black holes that were swallowing her words. "… and don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" In other circumstances she would have retorted with a smart comment along the lines of '_Oh look it can speak_', but simply couldn't find the words.

"Those eyes." Ino mumbled, as he rolled said eyes.

"They're the only eyes I have." Sasuke said, pushing himself to his feet and waiting for her to quip back that the Sharingan was almost the same as having to sets of eyes. But she didn't.

Instead when she did speak her voice was low and he was surprised to hear a slight tremble in it. "I don't know what to say when you look at me like that."

He closed the space between them in two strides and slipped one arm around her waist while with his other hand he raised her chin forcing her to look at him. "Then maybe it's best not to say anything."

Eyes, a translucent cerulean, stared up into his, something in their pupiless depths asking, begging him for something. He saw her mouth opening, preparing to say something else that no doubt he didn't want to hear. Sasuke silenced her in the most effective manner he could think of, he leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss.

Sasuke wasn't about to let Ino tell him they were over, and if that meant keeping her silent for the foreseeable future, well he was certainly up to the task.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	7. Broken Pieces

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I've been nice so far, but now it's time to get a bit of angst going and the fact that is also has my other favourite Ino pairing in it is just a bonus.

**Muse:** To **Yoruichi 'Ino'**, Drunksonic, **InoSasu lovr,** pixieface Lust, **AkemiYumikov3** and mdv we give thanks for their reviews and also a lollipop each.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Yoruichi 'Ino'**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_You're not the person that you used to be,  
The one I want who wanted me,  
And that's a shame but,  
There's only so many tears that you can cry.  
Before it drains the light right from your eyes,_

* * *

**Broken Pieces**

The pain is so intense it is almost a physical thing, an iron fist gripping tightly to his heart and squeezing as if it means to crush the life right from his body. The potent combination of blinding hatred and undying love swirled within him, sending tongues of white-hot fire dancing through his veins. Acid boils in his stomach, causing his gut to writhe as if he has just swallowed several large snakes. In his head he is raging like a mad man and screaming as if his heart is braking, but on the outside there is nothing.

Calm black orbs look on, seemingly disinterested, as the small group he is part of chatter and laugh. He is there, with them and yet some how he is still separate, on his own. And he knows now that is how it will always be.

She is standing not three feet from him, so close he could have reached out and touched her, but he knows he can't. She's not his to touch anymore, but then again if he is honest with himself she was never his to start with. Her icy blonde hair lose and falling down her back in a shimmering cascade, the heavy weight rippling with her every move. Light blue eyes dance with happiness and there is a silvery quality to her voice when she laughs. And she is laughing a lot.

She is happy and has every right to be so, and because it is part of who she is her good mood rubs off on those around her. In her own way she is infectious, but it is a good way he thinks. He could almost be happy too, happy for her, but as her hand raises and brushed blood red strands of hair out of light aqua eyes all he can feel is the sharp sting of rage. Such a small gesture, but so deeply intimate that jealousy and misery rise like a tidal wave within him, for he knows that she will never caress him in that way.

The voices in his head cry that it should be him standing there with his arm wrapped tightly around her slender waist not this redheaded invader. He is a monster and should not be allowed to violate her with his corrupt touch and poisoned kisses. They demand and beg him to take action now before it is too late. To push this usurping demon aside and take her, showing the world whom, she should by all rights be with. The temptation to give in is almost too strong to ignore, he can feel his palms itch with the desire to smash the perfect face that charmed her away from him

But he doesn't. She is laughing and happy again and he can not, will not, take that away from her for a second time. He has heard enough of what happened to her after he left the loneliness and depression that she tried unsuccessfully to hid from everyone. The nights she would spend sitting up staring out at the moon while tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks. How she would beg to be allowed to go on any mission that would take her anywhere near the village hidden in the sound, yet would flinch any time his name was mentioned.

Her laughter, which had once filled the air, faded until people could hardly remember what it had sounded like in the first place. And the light that had shone star bright from pale blue eyes, dimmed until it too threatened to vanish completely from the world, washed away by the constant flow of her tears.

When he had left she had fallen apart, her heart shattering to pieces as if it had been made of spun glass. But over time she some managed to pick up those same broken fragments and piece together some sort of life for herself. Supported on a scaffolding of pride and determination, she built herself back up, forced herself to become better than she'd ever been before. Stronger, faster, someone who would not be so easily broken a second time.

And then he had come home, the search for power abandoned along with the need for revenge. For the first time in as long as he could remember his mind was clear and he knew what was important and what he wanted from life. Her. But by then it was too late and she had at last found comfort in the arms of another.

Turning from the sight of the two of them together he began to walk slowly down the street, knowing that even if one of his friends were to call out none would follow him. He had been too blind to see what had been right in front of him the whole time. She had held her heart out to him, offered it willingly but he had tuned away and smashed her offering in the process.

So it was only fair he supposed, that this time around it was she who was braking his heart to pieces. His only consolation was that she didn't know she was doing it and he had no intention of telling her. More than anything else in the world he loved her, loved her with an intensity that almost burned. But also he loved her enough to never tell her how he felt. He had hurt her once before and swore he would never put her through that pain again.

No, now it was his turn to pick up the broken pieces of his heart and rebuild them as best he could. He owed her that much at least.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	8. Death

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry guys but I'm kinda on an angst roll at the mo, hope you can forgive me for the lack of happy endings.

**Muse:** Never forgive Lamb, make her suffer. A big thank-you to **InoxSasukeSOS**, Yoruichi 'Ino', **Drunksonic,** Rainforestfrogs and **AkemiYumikov3** who all reviewed that last chapter. (hands out rocks to throw at Lamb)

_Dedi:_ You baka! Anyway this drabble is dedicated to **InoxSasukeSOS**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_You don't know it now,  
But some wounds get deeper with time,  
You don't feel it now,  
Till the need burns, a knife turns,  
Your heart bleeds like mine,_

* * *

**Death**

Dark eyes looked down at the kunoichi who lay sprawled on the ground before him. Bruises and cuts marred the fair creamy skin, which was even paler in death than it had been in life. The stark contrast of her face, pale and perfectly crafted as an angel's skull, and the bright streaks of blood that smeared the once flawless mask of perfection, was breath taking.

From all around came voices that whisper like the rustling of dead leaves. The time to go has long past and yet he finds himself still standing over her. Captivated by the fading beauty that is slipping from her as fast as water would flee the confines of his hands.

Dull eyes stared unseeingly up at the over cast sky, the once vivid light blue now a faded shade of grey, the expression in them almost peaceful. Hair that had come free from its braid fell like a halo of weak sunshine around her fallen form, long strands already snarling on her spilled blood. Her lips, the lightest of pinks in death, were curved upwards slightly at the corners, she looked not happy exactly but accepting.

Idly he wonders if she knew that her life would end here, surly she could not have been naive enough to think she could triumph where so many others had failed. If he had been anyone else he might have laughed, but he was not and the longer that he watched her calm unmoving the face the more a subtle hollow began to swell within his chest.

It was the ache of longing and loneliness that had not stirred within him for so long. So long in fact that he had thought that at last he had starved his heart into submission, but with her sudden appearance she had reawakened memories he wished to be left undisturbed. She represented another life, a life that was long since dead. Just as she too was now dead.

It was funny, he thought, everything that he knew that was bright and full of hope eventually died. His family, his old life and now her.

He remembered the girl he had once known, bubbly and bossy. Always ridding high on a sea of her own confidence, the only way she knew how to live was by blasting through the obstacles that stood in her way. But what he remembered most was that she had always been so full of life. She possessed a lust for life that burned like a flame, and he had stood and watched as that fire slowly faded from her eyes.

The remainder of his team was now starting to take to the trees, heading back to the village, but still he lingers at her side. Something about the look on her face keeps him there, he thinks something in her expression is almost wistful before scolding himself – the dead feel nothing.

But some dark sadness curls within him and unsure why he is doing so he crouches down next to her. Gently his fingertips trace the contours of her face; the small straight nose, the high cheekbones and the arched brow. For a long time he simply stays beside her cold lifeless body, wondering on the fact that it wasn't until now when he had the chance to study her so carefully that he saw the strange beauty of her.

Delicately his fingers slid over her eyes pulling down her lids so, that if it were not for the blood his kunai had spilled across her left breast, she would look as if she were sleeping. For wasn't that all death was, an endless sleep. And for some strange reason that he could not name he hoped that it was true and that when his turn came that she might be waiting for him.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	9. Are You Challenging Me?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry this drabble is later than I planed and the only excuse I have it that I was too lazy to post sooner.

**Muse:** At least you're honest. A big thank you to **Drunksonic**, AkemiYumikov3, **Yoruichi 'Ino'** and InoSasu lovr for reviewing. (hands out fudge sticks)

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Drunksonic.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_If you're ready, I'm willing and able,  
Help me lay my cards out on the table,  
You're mine and I'm yours for the taking,  
Right now the rules we made are meant for breaking,_

* * *

**Are You Challenging Me?**

To be _The Man_ you had to beat _The Man_, Sasuke thought staring into a pair of determined blue eyes, even if _The Man_ was currently a woman.

It had started some three months back at relatively relaxed training session. Most of the members from the original Rookie Nine were away on missions, and rather than training alone the remaining four, Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba and Ino, along with Temari and Gaara had decided to train together. Not that much training had gone on.

Kiba and Naruto were clowning around like a pair of kids who'd been let out of school early. Ino and Temari were gossiping, one every so often throwing a kunai at the other in a half-hearted way. Gaara was sitting a short distance from the others and appeared to be meditating. And Sasuke was sulking.

It wasn't that he needed people to train with, in fact he much preferred training on his own that way he didn't have to worry about the limits of others. It was just that if they'd come here to train than that's what they should be doing, if they wanted to muck around why didn't they do it somewhere else. Somewhere faraway for him for preference.

Over and over, Sasuke slammed his fist into the training block, which was currently acting a punching bag and with each shot he imagined the face of one of his companions. It was probably the rage that dulled his senses so much that he failed to here the sound of the kunai flying through the air towards him, the thunk and sound of splintering wood as it buried its self in the training block were, however, unmistakable.

With a cry of rage, he'd wrenched the blade from the wood and turned to see everyone sniggering at him and Ino trying her best to look innocent. It was a look she'd never really been able to get the hang of.

"I'm sorry Sasuke–kun…" she had started, but he had cut her off as he stormed across the training ground waving the weapon in front of him like a talisman to worn off evil. Or blondes. Or even one that would worn off evil blondes.

"Sorry? Sorry?" He snarled. "If you'd get off your fat ass every so often and train Yamanaka you'd have no reason to be sorry, would you?"

Ino's face had turned white, not from shock but from anger, her ass was not fat and he had no right to say otherwise. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about Uchiha, I could take you like that."

She'd snapped her fingers in front of his face while her just smirked down at her. "Are you challenging me?"

The fight that had followed had not been pretty, Sasuke thought morosely as he watched the face of the blonde, looking for any indication of what she was thinking. It had started well enough and he'd had no doubt that he would win, being easily the stronger, the faster and the smarter of the two of them. Of course he had lost.

Perhaps it was his cocky attitude that had been his down fall, or it could have been that he underestimated her skills. But what he thought it was, was the fact that he'd left out of his coalitions that Ino fought dirty. The kick she had delivered was powerful and devastating, and not one she had learned in the academy. It had left him doubled over in agony, clutching his groin. And as blue and white lights flashed behind his eyes he couldn't help but think that any chance he'd had of repopulating his clan had just gone up in smoke.

Sniggering softly she had stepped up to him and prodding him once the forehead sent him sprawling to the ground. Thus had started a rivalry that was almost as intense as the one that raged between Kakashi-sensei and Mighty Guy.

Sasuke drew a deep breath before placing his cards face up on the table, a slow smirk sliding onto his face as he looked across at Ino who was now to just her underwear and chest bindings. He had to admit that the sight was very pleasing. "I do hate making girls cry, but two pair Ino, let's see you top that."

The blonde's eyes flicked from her own hand, to the cards on the table before landing on the face of the almost completely naked Sasuke. Which of them had some up with strip poker again, she wondered. Not that it really mattered; it was proving to be fun whatever way you looked at it.

"Don't worry Sasuke the hearts a big organ and my royal flush beats your hand anyway." As her cards fell to the table a smirk pulled at her lips as she looked at the scowling Sasuke.

He had only two options; he could either strip himself of his last item of clothing or back out and admit defeat. There was no choice really. With some difficulty he managed to remove the pair of black silk boxer shorts while keeping a cushion placed over his lap. He tossed his last piece of clothing towards the blonde and gave her a look that could have killed at fifty paces, but she ignored it.

"Now, now Sasuke," Ino cooed, arching one perfectly plucked eyebrow as she stared innocently across the coffee table at him. "To the winner, the spoils."

Voices in his head screamed that she couldn't be serious, she had won fair and square but what she was asking, no demanding was too much. But he could see the look in her eyes, the one the clearly said _cowered_ and something in him snapped. All right, he'd had just about enough. In one swift movement he pushed himself to his feet, dark onyx eyes locking with light blue, no one could ever say that Sasuke Uchiha would walk away from a challenge.

He tossed he cushion to Ino who caught it on reflex, and her eyes which had been one his face had trailed down his body and were now almost falling out of her pretty little head. And just like that the tables turned, from being cool and in control, Ino found her self once more returning to her preteen fangirl days. All she could do was sit in silence as Sasuke walked round the table, seized her by her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. He was so close that she could feel heat that radiated from his body and it sent electric currents racing up and down her spin.

"Right," Sasuke said, and when he looked at the lithe blonde his grin looked downright wicked. "The next challenge is mine to pick."

--

Some hours later as Sasuke stared down into Ino's flushed and exultant face he found himself trying to work out which of them had one that particular challenge. And the only conclusion he could come to was that they both had, though as she struggled to get her breath back Ino mumbled something along the lines _of next time she was coming out on top_. Sasuke had to admit it was an idea he certainly liked the sound of.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	10. Mirror

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry, I know I haven't updated for a long time. And this is the best or the longest update so I will try and post something else in the next few days.

**Muse:** Oh get over your self already. (hands out cookies) A big thanks to **WolfFlowerz**, Drunksonic, **...,** Rainforestfrogs, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** AkemiYumikov3, **LaurenMichelle125**, InoSasu lovr and **shadowphoenix101** for reviewing.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_There's a girl in the mirror,  
I wonder who she is,  
Sometimes I think I know her,  
Sometimes I really wish I did,  
There's a story in her eyes,_

* * *

**Mirror**

It could be safely said that these days Ino Yamanaka never met a mirror she didn't love.

The lithe athletic blonde sighed contentedly as she finished running a critical eye over her reflection. Perhaps she was vain, Ino thought, but what was wrong with loving your own body? When she had grown out of her teenage obsession with diets and faddy eating, she had come to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with how she looked. In fact there was a lot right.

Putting a hand on her waist, Ino cocked on hip and admired the effect in the looking glass. Seduction could be a powerful weapon for the kunoichi who knew how to use it. And though Ino was not over found of missions that required her to use curtain methods to get close to targets and extract the information she needed, she could see why she was best suited to these missions.

Light blue eyes locked with those of her reflection, in a _come and get it_ look that normally had the prime target of a mission begging at her feet. Yep, Ino nodded to herself, without trying to be too big headed she was defiantly one of the best looking shinobi in Konoha, but more importantly she had the confident attitude that made seduction easy.

Pouting at the mirror, she reflected that nine times out of ten, for a guy there was nothing quite so sexy as a confident woman. And that certainly seemed to be the case as far as Sasuke was concerned. A soft smile pulled at Ino's lips as she thought of her lover, after the years spent wanting and waiting they were together and it was everything she could have dreamed.

Another sigh escaped her, and one hand with slender finger ran across the smooth polished surface of the mirror. She could remember it so clearly, looking up and seeing their entwined bodies reflected in the glass. It had been without a doubt one of the most erotic moments of her life and the memory was one that would stay with her forever.

The fantasy pulled at Ino, dragging her mind from the sunlight bedroom into the dark heat of a night when the sky seemed to burn feverish with stars. The feel of his hands, the taste of his lips…

"Checking yourself out again, are you?" The sound of Sasuke's voice startled the blonde out of her daydream and she spun inelegantly on the spot, almost overbalancing in the process, to face him.

Automatically, his arm wrapped round her waist to keep her from falling to the floor while he shook his head at her clumsiness. Ino just offered him a bright smile, unabashed at being caught staring at her reflection.

For while it was true that she'd never met a mirror she didn't love, what she loved most was when she saw herself reflected in his eyes.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	11. Traps

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I'm sorry for not updating sooner, all I can do is apologies and plead forgetfulness as I've been having a really busy week.

**Muse:** Yes… well… (hands out cookies) thank you to **Drunkie,** InoSasu lovr, **Drunksonic,** Rainforestfrogs, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** WolfFlowerz, **...,** AkemiYumikov3 and **Blacktears110** who all reviewed that last drabble.

_Dedi:_ The drabble is dedicated to **Drunkie/Drunksonic** (two cookies for you)

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong to take on anyone,_

_I know that you are wrong,_

_And this is not where you belong,_

_Where you belong?_

* * *

**Traps**

Traps, they were part of the day to day life of any ninja, Sasuke reflected as he looked at her definite face. You set them hoping to ensnare your enemies, while at the same time tried to avoid any that had been set for you. It was those same cunning traps that had caught her and brought her to this place, and now he, in turn was trapped by her.

Poor, brave Ino Yamanaka. So proud, so determined and this was where that unbreakable spirit had got her. He knew she must be scared, terrified even staring up into those malicious golden orbs, but still she held her head high, an arrogant sneer twisting her lips. Part of him was impressed by her show of strength, but the rest of him wanted to just scream at her to give in. To back down.

Ebony orbs flicked over the faces of those present, the intent almost greedy expressions as all eyes were fixed upon the slender blonde kunoichi. Didn't she realise how much danger she was in? His mind cried. If she refused to give Lord Orochimaru the information he wanted…they would kill her in the end, but only after they had destroyed her completely. Only when she was lying bloody and broken on the floor, only when she was begging for death.

A final question was met with a definite shake of her head, which had blonde strands flying into her face. He saw the look on Orochimaru's face, calculating and somewhat spiteful as Kabuto Yakushi quickly stepped forward, the hunger in his eyes all to evident. She was tapped now, and there was no way for her to save herself, and the thought of what the sadistic medically trained ninja might do to her made Sasuke's blood run cold.

And that fact alone was enough to shock him into action. He shouldn't care what fate befell her, she was nothing more than a relic from his past, a reminder of a life that was no longer his. The Yamanaka was nothing to him, he should feel nothing but contempt that she allowed her self to be captured. And yet the thought of her being left in the hands of one such as Kabuto caused the bile to rise in Sasuke's throat.

Swiftly he moved placing himself in front of the blonde female, the look in his eyes causing Kabuto first to stop and then back off completely. Eyes filled with questions flicked around the room, but none dared voice a single one. Sasuke Uchiha was special, the chosen vessel and as such was not subject to the same rules as the rest of those who dwelt in the village hidden in the sound.

With a cruel smile and a dip of his head, Orochimaru indicated that the prisoner was now the property of the Uchiha to do with as he saw fit. Before anyone could find the courage to object, he grabbed Ino by the arm and half led, half dragged her from the room. Along dark corridors he marched her, by all rights he should have taken her to one of the holding cells but instead it was his own room that he pushed her into, shutting the door behind them.

He wasn't sure what he had expected from her, curiosity maybe. Distrust, quite possibly. Relief, was a long shot. But what he had not expected was for her to turn and lung at him, hissing and spitting like a demon for hell. Her hands were bound before her, with chakra strengthened rope and yet still she tried to attach him. Her hands coming up, nails trying to scratch out his eyes until he was forced to push her form him with such violence that she went stumbling backwards and sprawled on his bed.

"Just get it over with already," She screeched, white hot fire dancing in her eyes as they flicked from his face to the weapons pouch strapped to his leg and back again. "I know you want to."

She knew he wanted to, huh? That was something Sasuke highly doubted this wasn't about vengeance or taking joy in taking a life. No, this was about needing to cleanse him self. He wanted to prove to himself that he really had moved on with his life and to do that he would show the girl that she really meant nothing to him and never would.

Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke reached down and pulled out a kunai watching the way her eyes immediately became transfixed by the blade. 'Oh Ino, so cleaver, so smart,' he thought walking slowly over to where she still lay on his bed. 'And yet you still can't see? If I wanted you dead I could have just left you there for them to rip apart.'

Her position was such that her enter upper body and the tops of her legs were supported by the bed, but her lower legs dangled over the edge, her toes just managing to reach the floor. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as Ino turned her head away so that she didn't have to see Sasuke standing over her. But there was nothing she could do to block out the feeling of his weight pushing her back against the bed as he straddled her prone body.

Ino screwed her eyes tightly shut as she felt the tip of the blade run across her skin and tensed when it was pulled away. She braced herself preparing for the sharp stab, but instead with his soft grunt of effort she felt the ropes that bound her wrists fall away. Her intake of breath was sharp and she snapped her head back to face him, cerulean burning into onyx, for an instant before his mouth crashed down upon hers.

--

Sasuke didn't know at what point the heartless skill transform itself into heartfelt passion. When the beguiling and teasing fingers begin fiercely to clench and grasp. He could only remember the sound of her cries … and his. The slick slide of their bodies. The warmth within her. The dark perfume of her musk as her body arched and shattered beneath him.

Shocked and dazed he lay, his limbs entangled with Ino's and could only wonder at where his intentions had vanished to. He had been trying to prove that he was free but all he knew, as he held her firm young body tightly, was that in some inexplicable way he was now bound to the blonde kunoichi. Caught and held, in ways he couldn't explain. Trapped.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	12. Breaking the Rules

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Ok guys two things you need to know about this drabble, the first being that if you like it can be considered a sequel to the previous one. And second, this drabble contains a lemon. Got that!? One citrus warning going out. But since this is probably going to the only one in this collection I'm keeping the fic 'T' rated. Hope that's Ok with you all.

**Muse:** Big thanks and oranges, we're keeping with the citrus feel, to **Drunksonic,** shelvesinthecloset **AkemiYumikov3**, WolfFlowerz, **Blacktears110**, Yoruichi 'Ino', **mdv** and shadowphoenix101, who all reviewed the last drabble.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Drunksonic** and also to **shadowphoenix101** (cus she went through and reviewed every drabble)

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_We are the people one and all,  
From deliverance to the fall,  
From the battle and the heat,  
To our triumph and defeat,  
We are the young ones crying out,  
Full of anger full of doubt,  
And we're breaking all of the rules,_

* * *

**Breaking the Rules**

It wasn't meant to be this way, Sasuke thought as he looked up at the lithe blonde moving above him. Her skin was flushed, her light blue eyes half lidded, her lips pulled back in a silent scream as she writhed in pleasure. He knew enough about her to know that she was only brief seconds from the moment when her crises would peek and her body would arch and shatter and send them both tumbling over the edge.

He knew it was wrong, even as her body began to tremble, her soft whimpers drowned out by his own cries of release, he knew it was wrong. A sigh fell from her lips as she slumped forward, her flushed face pillowed on the sweat-slicked skin of his chest. His arms snaked around her slender frame and he pulled Ino tightly to him. All the time the only thought running through his head was that this situation was wrong.

Sasuke closed his mind to the confusion that filled him, and kissing the top of her head, he buried his face in the still sweet scented profusion of her hair. Her pale skin was covered a light bruises, both old and knew, from where his hands and lips had feasted on the sweetness of her flesh. He could feel the steady beat of her heart and it both thrilled and terrified him.

Ino Yamanaka, the golden flower of Konoha, and one of the finest shinobi the village hidden in the leaves had ever produced. She was meant to be his prisoner not his lover. To take a captive as a bed-mate, be they willing or not, wasn't something that the Sound objected to. And that was what he had intended to do, to brake her completely to rid her of the notion that he could ever have cared for her and in doing so cleanse himself of his growing attachment to her.

But when he had seen her lying there with that magical hair spread all over the soft cushions, he was caught by the realisation that he had never encounter anything more lovely. He had meant to go through with his original plan, but when he began to kiss her, her mouth, her neck, her round creamy breasts, exploring every inch of her being, her response was both sweet and accepting. Pulling back he looked down at her, before capturing her lips once more. Her mouth was open and ready for him, and he knew then that all of her was simply waiting for him.

It should have ended there. She should have been dead long ago. Captured some three months back, refusing to divulge the information Lord Orochimaru wanted she should have been dead within days. But Sasuke just couldn't let her go, each time he went to her he swore it would be the last, yet it never was. Keeping a prisoner as a pet to relieve pent-up sexual frustration was nothing new, but what he was doing…

For Ino Yamanaka he was braking all the rules.

Somewhat reluctantly he rose from the bed and began gathering the clothes he had hastily discarded some hours before.

For a moment or two Ino watched him move around the sparsely decorated room, not much more than a cell really, before she too climbed from the bed. She wrapped a bed sheet, toga style, around her naked body in some semblance of modesty. The stone floor was icy cold to the touch, but she paid it no mind as she wandered aimlessly around the room until she came to a halt before the, now dressed, Uchiha. Taking his hands in hers and pulled his arms around her waist, while she pushed her back against his firm chest and lent her head against his shoulder.

"You could crush me between these two hands and yet you don't. And I can't help but wonder why." Ino's eyes were filled with malicious laughter, there seemed to be something about the twisted situation they found themselves in that she found amusing.

"Hn." The Konoha traitor merely grunted in reply before dropping his head so that he could nip and suckle on the soft flesh of her neck. She was right in any case, he could easily kill her, just crush her skull between his hands, indeed by all rights she should already be dead. As a prisoner of the Sound her life should have been forfeited long ago, his strange obsession with the blonde kunoichi was the only thing keeping her alive.

"I think you're afraid to kill me." There was a mocking sing song edge to her voice, as if she knew a secret and was enjoying keeping it from him. "Afraid, because when I'm gone you'll no longer be able to pretend you don't want me."

Turning her in his arms, Sasuke once again nuzzled at her neck before trailing butterfly kisses up to her ear and murmuring quietly, "I'll let the others kill you."

"I said once that I'd kiss you with my last breath." And suddenly all trace of laughter was gone from her voice, her eyes which had been sparking with mischief now looked distant and a little lost.

"But your kisses taste of death Ino." His words didn't stop him from dipping his head and capturing her sweet lips with his. The tenderness only lasted for a moment, before the kiss quickly dissolved into something wild and heated.

Almost violently he pushed the cerulean-eyed female up against the cold stone of the wall, the bed sheet slipping from her body in the processes. Teeth and tongues clashed together, while fingers and hands began to fiercely to clench and grab. Ino began pushing his shirt from his torso, her long nails scraping at his flesh while his own hands worked feverishly to undo his pants.

And when he was naked as well, his burning skin against her own, Ino thought, as she always did, that she'd never seen anyone as beautiful as him. Her nails dug into his skin as he pushed into her and his mouth captured her moan. His hands grabbed her legs and lift her into the air, pinning her against the unforgiving icy stone of the wall and she grasped his shoulders, feeling his muscles shift underneath the silken skin.

He was neither gentle nor slow, but seemed almost desperate to pour what he felt into that one frantic act. And she saw the burning passion inside of his strange dark eyes, which dominated and subdued her. His movements became faster and everything else was a blur, except him and his mouth over her own as bit her lip.

He was always so good and strong… and wild that she felt she couldn't stand anymore of this ecstasy. It was always so impossible to think clearly when he touched her like that, almost as if nothing in the world existed beyond the feel of him. That she would die if he would go any further, she could feel the white hot fire spiralling from the centre of her being, and almost screamed from the force of it. His movements intensified and she felt that peak of pleasure, that ultimate moment of total abandoning. Her tense muscles went limp and she felt him supporting her as he moved on, to his own fulfilment.

For a few long moments, they continued to stand, as they were bodies entwined together while they both sort to regain their breath. Then Ino slowly raised a hand, one finger tracing the contours of her bruised and swollen lips. She tilted her head slight to one side and regarded Sasuke with bemused rain coloured eyes.

"You still fear me more then you love me." Dark orbs snapped open, their look inscrutable as they fixed on her face. "You fear me, because I've committed the one unforgivable act, I know you. I know who and what you are and I know in your heart you hate me for that."

"Ha!" It was a bark of laughter and he lent in and placed a bruising kiss on her mouth before swiftly pulling back "You know that I couldn't hate you, even if I wanted to and as for the other … I don't fear you nearly enough as I should do."

"Then you don't trust me enough." Ino sighed and buried her head into the crook of his neck, drawing the scent of him deep into her lungs as if she were trying to drown in it.

"You're the only one I do trust." The words came without thought, straight from the heart, but even as Sasuke spoke them he knew their truth.

She was the only one that he could love and trust. The only one he cared enough to hurt about. The only person alive that he would brake all the rules for.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	13. Pain

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: It was requested that this drabble be a very dark one. Now I'm not sure this is very dark but there is defiantly something dark going on, I leave it up to you all to tell me what you think.

**Muse:** Keeping with the fruit theme from last time (hands out toffee apples) Thank you to **WolfFlowerz,** ..., **gorypaldin2**, AkemiYumikov3, **mdv,** Drunksonic, **Yoruichi 'Ino'** and Blacktears110, who all reviewed that last chapter.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_I feel the torch again,  
Burning in my eyes,  
A beautiful pain's begging me,  
Like the thought of a whip,  
You leave your mind in me,  
And you take my soul with you,_

* * *

**Pain**

In the eight years since he had first turned his back on Konoha, many teams had been sent after him in the hopes of bringing him back to the village he had once called home. From that very first one 'the Sasuke retrieval team' as they had been dubbed, to all the others that had followed. They all had two things in common, they had all had Naruto Uzumaki as a member and they had all been unsuccessful. And that last unsuccessful team had been dispatched some five years back at which point the fifth Hokage had said that enough was enough and no further attempt to retrieve the Uchiha would be made.

The sharp blow that connected with his jaw brought him back to the harsh truth of reality and the situation he was now in. Perhaps he had been over confident, too cocky and self-assured. In truth the last of the proud Uchiha clan had believed that there was no one who could touch him. And then had come this latest team, the one that had succeeded where all others had failed. It was team the like of which had never before been seen and against its combined strength and skill he had been unable to defend him self.

Naruto Uzumaki it had seemed was not the sort of person who would give up on anyone or anything, and though forced to bide his time, never lost hope of one day bringing the team-mate he had lost home. It had been no surprise to anyone when he had been named sixth Hokage though his first decree that the hunt for Sasuke Uchiha was back on was met with a certain amount of shock and disapproval. But it seemed that five years to think and plan had been worth it, and as Sasuke sat in the chill, dark cell he was forced to admit that the plan of the man once know as 'Konoha's number one Knucklehead ninja' was seemingly flawless.

A team comprised of four of the hidden leaf villages best Ninja and an ally member from Suna. It was a team that had the perfect blending of taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu as well as being proficient in hand to hand combat and the use of any weapon that could be produced. _The female of the species is more deadly that the male_ and it seemed as if it was something that the sixth Hokage intend to use to his advantage.

Glamazons – the deadly combination of strength and beauty, intelligence and determination.

Eyes, swollen and bruised scanned the dark room in which he was now confined. He knew himself to be deep with the head quarters of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department. The room was bare save for three chairs, one to which he was bound with chakra-strengthened ropes and the five beauties standing and lounging in the cell with him. Their eyes cruel and mocking, as they scanned his bloody and broken form.

_Any means necessary,_ they had been told and not one of them had seemed to harbour any reservations about using excessive force to capture him. From all sides they had attacked without hesitation, and even amid the pain and confusion that had assaulted him Sasuke had been forced to admire how well the worked together as a team. They fitted together like parts of a well-oiled machine, each knowing what roll they had to play, using their strengths to compensate for each other's weaknesses.

A delicate hand with long perfectly manicured fingers swiped at his face, the nails, painted a light purple, leaving three deep scratches in the flesh of his cheek. His head was flung back from the force of the blow and pain like white-hot fire shot through his spine and neck. Eyes, gleaming scarlet with impudent fury, fixed on the woman standing over him, her body clad in a skin-tight dark purple outfit. Her hand griped his chin and lifted his head so that he had no choice but to look into her face, the pale blue orbs, cold as chips of ice, that were regarding him with disdain.

"Look at you," She hissed a sneer twisting her full lips. "Who would have known that the last Uchiha was so pathetic?"

He could hear the cackles of laughter that rang through the cold damp air as the blonde grabbed a fist full of his hair; the black strands matted with his own blood, and roughly jerked his head forwards. Ino's mouth crashed down onto his in a bruising almost violent kiss. But there was nothing loving or kind in her action, it was just another way to show that the five females were the ones in control and that he was helpless to do anything to stop them. Sasuke knew that and yet he could not help but enjoy the feeling of her mouth on his, right up until her teeth sunk savagely into his lower lip. Reopening the split that had only just started to heal and flooding his mouth with the sharp coppery taste of his own blood.

When she pulled back, Sasuke could see the traces of deep crimson that lingered on her lips and the look in her eyes that said he was something that was not worthy of her time. "So very pathetic."

Turning on her heel, Ibiki Morino's star pupil and Konoha's number one bitch strode to the cell door without a giving him so much as a backward glance. Her hair, pale gold hung in a long rope down her back and shifted in time to her steps, emphasising the subtle sway of her movements. Reaching the door she pulled it open and vanished into the darkness of the hallway beyond, the other four females following in her wake. The sound of the bolts slamming shut echoed around the small stone room, as Sasuke was left in a world of pain and darkness.

Ino Yamanaka so much beauty and yet she was as cold and distant as the stars that filled the night sky. Remember the perfume of her hair, the voice in the back of his head whispered, the sweetness of her lips and the fire of her embrace. Satan himself taught her everything about deception; it would be easier to catch the moonlight than it would be to hold onto such a woman. And you, Sasuke Uchiha will never hold her again.

Kunoichi were wonderful. They provoked wonder.

Kunoichi were marvellous. They caused marvels.

Kunoichi were fantastic. They created fantasies.

Kunoichi were glamorous. They projected glamour.

Kunoichi were enchanting. They wove enchantment.

Kunoichi were terrific. They begot terror.

The thing about words was that the meanings could twist just like snakes. And Sasuke knew that if you wanted to find snakes all you had to do was look for them behind words that had changed their meaning.

No one had ever said that kunoichi were nice.

Kunoichi were vicious and cruel, prepared to do anything in order to fulfil their objective. They were cold-blooded killers and possessed a mean streak a mile wide. And they could hurt you in ways that no other shinobi could even dream about. Ninja were trained to inflict as much damage as quickly as they could, to always aim for the most vital points of an opponent's body.

A kunoichi would always aim straight for the heart, and never once would she miss.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	14. Seeking Solace

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: First off sorry for not updating sooner and sorry that it's so short. But I'll try and get another up in the next few days, so forgive me and please vote on my poll on my profile page?

**Muse:** Never!! But thanks and hot chocolate to **WolfFlowerz**, AkemiYumikov3, **mdv**, Yoruichi 'Ino', **Drunksonic**, anony, **...,** shelvesinthecloset and **Rainforestfrogs**, who all reviewed that last drabble.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Breathe in sanctuary in the,  
Easy silence that you make for me,  
It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me,  
And the peaceful quiet you create for me,  
And the way you keep the world at bay for me,_

* * *

**Seeking Solace**

Like a child torn from a fantasy and thrown into the harsh world of reality, she would run to him. Running to the only constant that remained in a chaotic life that she no longer recognised as her own. Where once was life and hope there now only remained death and despair. War was the plague that ravished that land, turning friend against friend, killing hearts and minds without discretion.

The scent of blood clung to her once sweetly perfumed skin and no matter how much she tried she could never cleanse herself of that vile stench. Dark earth red, the thick liquid snarling in her hair, matting the shining silver golden strands in dull rust coloured ropes.

Tears would spill form her eyes as she launched herself into his waiting embrace. Feeling his arms loop tightly around her battered and bruised body, the only solid thing in a world of shifting shadows. He would hold her tightly rocking her gently, like a frightened child, knowing that he was the only once who could offer her comfort. Knowing that she would never show her weakness to anyone but him.

Her fingers would curl in the soft strands of his blue/black hair, pulling him closer while she would bury her face in the warm dark space between his neck and shoulder. In a world that was ever changing, where life was never the same from moment to moment and it felt as if she were dancing on quicksand, he was the only thing that kept her grounded.

Only with him could she find any form of comfort. He would take her to a place beyond words, where she need not tell him her fears and the warmth of his embrace was all the reassurance she would need. It never failed to amaze her how he could simply pick her up and take her away from the real world and all the pain it held. Time after time he would stop the cruel force of reality from crashing down on her.

With the first raise of light she would be compelled to return to that cold grim world, which was filled was harshness and cruelty. In that place where her saviour would once again became her enemy, but for that moment it didn't matter for he was with her. For only in his silence could she find solace.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	15. Abandoned

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I'm so sorry! (hides behind the sofa) I know I said I'd update quickly and then I didn't, but my nets been going down on and off all month. But I promise I will try and update Thursday or Friday.

**Muse:** You are so pathetic. (hands out chocolate cake) Thank-you to **Blacktears110,** WolfFlowerz, Drunksonic, **Skye-Sama**, Rainforestfrogs, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** shadowphoenix101 and **mdv,** who all reviewed the last drabble.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Blacktears110.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Hopelessness,  
Is the darkness in your heart,  
It's the sound of one hand clapping,  
While it's pulling you apart,_

* * *

**Abandoned**

Tears would have been nice, Ino thought.

She stood next to Sakura, one arm wrapped comfortingly around the sobbing pink haired kunoichi and she could feel the girl's tears as a slick dampness against her shoulder. Hiccups shook her body as she squeezed her eyes, red rimmed and puffy, tightly shut. Her anguish was plain for all to see anyone who so much as glanced in her direction could not fail to see that her world had clearly fallen down around her.

Yes, tears would have been rather nice, but for Ino they just wouldn't fall.

Empty blue eyes stared along the road that lead out of Konoha, their pupilless sight fixed on the five figures that faded into the distance even as she watched. The horizon seeming almost to reach out and swallow them from her view. Just as it had swallowed _him_ hours before. They were meant to be a retrieval team, but in her heart she already knew that they would not succeed.

He had wanted to leave and no power in heaven or earth would bring him home unless he wanted to come. Not matter how much she wished for things to be different she knew that they would not be. Sasuke was gone and she couldn't change that fact. He had picked up and disappeared, leaving them all with the shock and anguish of his treachery.

She could drop down to her knees here on the dusty road and plead and beg Kami-sama to send him back, but she knew it would be pointless. And after all she was Ino Yamanaka, she was meant to be the strong one. The rock that was there to support her friends whenever they needed her, but no one was there to hold her up when she needed someone to act as her defender and protector.

A hollow emptiness swelled with in the confines of her chest, a tight iron band pulling harder and harder on her heart until Ino wondered if it would crack. The pain was like a physical thing, a bright pulsating crimson point in her head sending tendrils of agony spiralling through her body. But still she couldn't cry.

It was almost as if she had got beyond the point where tears would help. Over the passing years she had watched as the boy she had known and called her friend changed into a stranger who probably didn't even remember her name. But Ino remembered, the fun times they had shared when they were still so young and carefree, when they had no concept of their own mortality.

Then slowly, inexorably he started to slip away from her until finally there was nothing left of the person she had once known. The eyes that she had always loved no longer held any warmth when he might happen to glance her way, but just a cold indifference that hurt in ways she couldn't explain. It would have been better if he had looked on her with hate or disgust, at least that way she would have known he still felt something for her. Something, anything, but all she ever saw was nothing.

And now he was gone completely and all chance of retrieving the friendship they had once had had fled with him and leaving Ino alone. Abandoned.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	16. Love

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Well here we are just as promised and I thought I'd give you something less gloomy this time round. Even I can't be all dark and angsty all the time.

**Muse:** Who's head have you been living in? But anyway, big thanks and Sasuke shaped cookies to **WolfFlowerz,** InoSasulvr, **Drunksonic,** AkemiYumikov3 and **shelvesinthecloset,** who reviewed that last drabble.

_Dedi:_ The drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz,**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_What is love?  
Oh baby, don't hurt me,  
Don't hurt me no more,  
What is love?  
Oh baby, don't hurt me,_

_Don't hurt me no more,_

* * *

**Love**

Love it was the pain in her ass that she could have happily lived with out. It was the thorn in her side. Love was the nightmare that failed to fade away with the rising of the sun. In short, love that the biggest problem that Ino Yamanaka had ever had to face and try as hard as she could there was no way she could overcome it.

Sasuke Uchiha was proving to be one of those people it was impossible to get over. Damn him!

Tossing hair out of her face, she skipped backwards a few paces, dodging the kick the person she was training with aimed at her, before lunging forward and hitting him twice in the abdomen. Only to have him sweep her legs out from under her and force her into a backward roll to keep herself from sprawling on the ground. Quickly creating a couple of clones she moved in for another attack.

Once bitten twice shy, wasn't that what they said? And she knew they were right. But she had thought that she had starved her heart into submission, he had been gone for just over five years after all. The obnoxious twelve-year-old she had been had grown into a mature young woman who knew just what she wanted from life and just how to get it. For the first time she could remember she was in control of her life and things were going right for her.

And then one day he just came waltzing back as if he'd never been gone and shattered her world to bits.

The two clones vanished into puffs of smoke and Ino slammed her fist as hard as she could into the waiting hand of her sparring partner. Which he immediately closed around her balled fist so that he could shove her back, proving that he had obviously predicted her action. She almost lost her balance and only just managed to dodge the fireball he shot in her direction, which almost singed her hair.

It wasn't fair and he had no right to come back and turn everything she knew upside down and inside out. But that was just what he'd done, he'd come strolling up the road and the moment her eyes landed on him her heart started leaping in her chest. Ino had spent so long working on getting over him, on moving on. And just when she thought she finally had, when freedom was hers at last he'd come and ripped her whole world apart at the seams.

The years just melted away, and she was suddenly a babbling adolescent girl all over again. And just like that she fell for him just as she had the first time round, except this time she was falling further and faster, and worst of all she knew there was nothing to stop it. Ino didn't know how it was that he could have such a hold over her heart. She didn't know and she didn't care, all she knew was that it was all too, nicking Shikamaru's catch phrase, troublesome.

Love was a distraction she just couldn't handle right now. And it really was love this time, not a romantic little girl crush posing at love, but the real 'drive you crazy, I need this like a hole in the head right now' love. It was pain, it was problems and over all Ino had come to the conclusion that being in love really sucked.

With lighting speed the light eyed blonde pulled a kunai from her weapons pouch, the blade flashed in her hand as she attacked. But with one swift move her training partner somehow managed to catch hold of her wrist and twist her in such a way, that Ino found her back pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped tightly round her and her own kunai resting against her throat.

Ino scowled at the world in general, but resisted the urge to struggle and squirm, which would not have been a good idea with a sharp blade, so close to her neck. So she settled for just mumbling huffily at him, "I hate you."

"Yeah," Sasuke drawled, softly kissing the top of her head. "I love you too."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	17. Playing the Melody

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.) Nor do I own the song 'Baby Mine' by Allison Krauss.

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I'm sorry for the long wait, but hey I'm lazy. Anyway let the angstfest begin.

**Muse:** You're such a pain. (hands out glasses of chocolate milk) Thank you to **WolfFlowerz,** shelvesinthecloset, **AkemiYumikov3,** Drunksonic, **hakuisagirl** and shadowphoenix101, who all reviewed.

_Dedi:_ Grow up you two!! This drabble is dedicated to **WolfFlowerz**… again lol.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_In your bed Momma said,  
Baby's riding off to dreamland,  
One by one they've begun,  
Dance and prance for little baby,_

* * *

**Playing the Melody**

Hand in hand the pair of young lovers walked down one of the streets in the lower district of Konoha, the last of the sun's rays painting everything in a warm rosy glow and gliding the edges with brilliant gold. The pink haired young woman smiled lightly for no reason that she could think of. But at twenty-four and just over four months pregnant she was already starting to show, it wasn't as if she needed much of a reason. Tugging gently on her hand, the man destined to be the sixth Hokage pulled her up the path to the house that was their destination.

As soon as they stepped through the front door of Ino Yamanaka's small house they sensed it. It wasn't just the sad soft tone of her voice filling the air that caused Sakura to look worriedly at Naruto before quicken her pace as she moved down the hall towards the living room. There was some feeling of melancholy that clouded the evening; as if someone had given up hope and that the defeat had sunk into the very walls of the house. Gently he placed a hand on the shoulder of his long time girlfriend as she pushed open the door that stood at the end of the corridor and entered that warm room beyond.

Flickering firelight danced on walls painted in comforting shades of yellow and pale orange filling the room with an inviting glow. On the large white sofa that was situated opposite the open fire a young blonde haired woman sat slowly rocking a sobbing child in her arms. She sat her legs curled up underneath her, her head slightly bowed as the boy clung to her with a strength born of sheer desperation.

_Baby mine, don't you cry,  
Baby mine, dry your eyes,  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never to part,  
Baby of mine,  
_

Ino hugged her eight-year-old son as tightly as she could and felt the boy try and burrow still further into the warm dark space her arms provided. Tears filled her own eyes as she felt the trembling of that hot miserable little body and it took all her will power to keep them from falling. Gently she rubbed her check on the top of the boy's head, strands of hair dark as a raven's wing feeling soft as silk against her skin.

For his age he was tall with a mass of wild dark blue/black hair naturally streaked here and there with inky jet strands. Slender to the point of almost being thin, just as his father had been at the same age, with pale flawless skin like his mothers and lager almond shaped eyes that seemed to have mixed the colours of both parents. A brilliant sky blue, pupiless and empty as the ocean, the irises were never the less ringed with a dark onyx band.

He was his so much like his father that it constantly took Ino's breath away, and not just in looks but in his mannerisms as well. Always he acted much tougher than he really was. It was as if he wore a mask over that pale striking face, always calm and in control, acting for all the world as if nothing ever bothered him. But Ino knew the truth, as nights like this demonstrated so well, that on the inside her son was crying as if his heart might crack in two.

_Little one when you play,  
Don't you mind what they say,  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,  
Never a tear,  
Baby of mine,  
_

Silent sobs racked through the small body and Naruto felt as if his heart was cracking into a thousand pieces. He was a part of him, his to protect and safeguard. His godson, the only child of his best friend who had been like a brother to him. But he was powerless to do anything to ease that pain that the boy was going through. Pain caused by loneliness. He didn't need to be told what had happened, for he could accurately guess that it was the same thing that so often brought tears to the child's eyes.

He knew as well as anyone else just how cruel children could be to one another. And it was not always name calling and other petty acts of vengeance that wounded most deeply, for no one ever tried to physically hurt the small boy, they simply left him alone. And that, he knew was the cruellest form of torture there was. From the moment he was dropped off in the mornings till the time that Ino picked him up at the end of the day the other children ignored him.

It was his childhood playing out all over again and he was helpless to stop it. Naruto could see the boy slowly starting to turn in upon himself, drawing further and further from a world that offered nothing but harsh worlds and cold disdain. If he was lucky he would find someone who would not judge him, just as Naruto had but if not… well things had worked out in the end for Gaara, but he did not want the dark haired boy to have to endure such suffering.

_If they knew sweet little you,  
They'd end up loving you two,  
All of those same people who scold you,  
What they'd give just for the right to hold you,  
_

Without a word Sakura slipped onto the sofa and wrapped her arms around her friend who was barely managing to hold back her own tears. She rested her cheek on top of Ino's head the soft blonde hair smooth against her skin and hugged her as tightly as she could. The young boy burrowed into the warm space that had been created between the bodies of the two friends, screwing his eyes tightly shut as still more tears slid down his flushed cheeks.

Ino continued to sing in a soft lilting voice, but the emerald-eyed woman could easily hear the tremble in her voice and she tired to comfort her only child. Sakura could not even begin to imagine how hard things must now be for the girl who had once been called 'the golden flower of Konoha'. Most of that same village had turned its back on the kunoichi who had fought so hard to defend them. A handful of her friends remained loyal to the blonde, herself and Naruto included. The Kazekage, enthusiastically backed up by his siblings had offered her sanctuary in Suna, but Ino said she could never leave the village that had always been her home.

And yet when the final crushing blow came. When her father had disowned her, Sakura had feared that it would only be a matter of time before the blonde who had always been so bright and full of life was left broken and unable to go on.

_From your head down to your toes,  
You're not much, goodness knows,  
But you're so precious to me,  
Sweet as can be,  
Baby of mine,  
_

Abruptly turning on his heel, Naruto left the warm fire lit room and headed towards the small kitchen. He and Sakura were supposed to be having with dinner with Ino, the pink haired woman had offered to cook but it now seemed evident that she would be too busy comforting mother and child to do so. Pulling a small stack of take-away menus from a draw, he leafed through until one took his fancy and using the phone attached to the kitchen wall phoned through an order enough to feed the four of them. Replacing the phone, he just managed to make it to one of the chairs standing around the table and collapsed into it.

There were so many conflicting emotions filling him that he didn't know how it was he kept from bursting apart. He was enraged at the kids at the academy for treating his godson in such a way. Sorry for the pain that he and Ino were constantly going through. Proud of them for the way that they kept going. Worried in case the whole thing became too much for Sakura to deal with and she did something without thinking. Still so lonely and upset over the loss of his best friend.

But mostly what he felt was hatred for that same friend. Hatred for one Sasuke Uchiha, who had allowed himself to be killed before his name could be officially cleared. So that to the most of the village he would always be the man who had turned his back on Konoha simply in order to gain power. Which made Ino the girl who had welcomed a traitor into her bed and Takahiro, the son of a betrayer.

_All of those same people who scold you,  
What they'd give just for the right to hold you,  
From your head down to your toes,  
You're not much, goodness knows,  
But you're so precious to me,  
Sweet as can be,  
Baby of mine,  
Baby of mine,_

The last of Ino's sad words faded into silence as he walked back into the living room. The tears were now running freely over her creamy skin, the attempt she had been making to hold them off clearly having failed, and now salt water was also gathering in the eyes of the rosette woman. Looking at the scene made Naruto's heart bleed with the pain and the worst thing was that he, with all his strength and power was unable to do anything to help.

Moving swiftly, he crossed the floor in a few long strides and sat down on the sofa. It was difficult, but somehow he managed to get his arms around both young kunoichi and pull them into a tight hug, Takahiro crushed between them. And they simply sat like that, neither moving nor speaking. The small gift of human contact was all that he had to offer, but he knew that it was nit nearly enough.

And Naruto wondered as they huddled together on the sofa, just how many more times he and Sakura would walk in on Ino singing her sad lullaby to her fatherless son.

* * *

**A/N**

Takahiro – from Japanese _貴 (taka) "valuable, noble" or __孝 (taka) "filial piety" combined with __大 (hiro) "large, great" or __浩 (hiro) "prosperous"._

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth

* * *


	18. Creation

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Ummm, over a month since I last updated… I guess oops doesn't quite cover it, huh? (backs away from readers waving pitchforks)

**Muse:** You fool!! But big thanks and pitchforks (for throwing at Lamb) to **shelvesinthecloset,** WolfFlowerz, **hakuisagirl,** llollo, **Drunksonic,** ...........,**Yoruichi 'Ino',** AkemiYumikov3, **mdv** and shadowphoenix101, who all reviewed the last chapter.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **shelvesinthecloset.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Woops Did I say it out loud,  
Did you find out,  
I wanna have your babies,  
Get serious like crazy,  
I wanna have your babies,  
I see 'em springin up like daisy's,_

* * *

**Creation**

She really should be content, Ino decided shifting her head on her makeshift pillow, which was actually the chest of one Uchiha Sasuke. The pair of them were lying together on his bed, the warmth of a Konoha summer evening wrapping around them and the last rays of the setting sun painted the room with a warm glow. A cool, white sheet covered Ino from the waist down, one of Sasuke's hands was running up and down her spin in a relaxing rhythm and the steady beating of his heart was soothing lullaby. And yet on this night she found sleep elusive.

Yes, she really should be contented with what she had. The blonde knew full well that there were still a grate many fangirls who would kill to be where she was and yet she was finding it impossible to settle. For the past week or so one question had been going round and round in her head, and the problem was she had no idea how to go about bringing up the subject with Sasuke.

He had said that he had two goals in life. The first, being to kill his brother, which he had successfully done. And the second being to repopulate his clan. When they had first got together he had ask if Ino knew he wanted a large family? She had said she did, but if he thought he was starting one with her right then and there he could think again.

That had been three years ago, and since then Sasuke had never brought the topic up. But now Ino felt she was ready to start a family and she wanted it to be with him. The thing was part of her couldn't help but wonder if the reason he had not mentioned the subject again was that he no longer wanted a family. Not one with her at any rate.

There was a jutsu; simple enough, that all the kunoichi were taught when they reached puberty. Female ninja were sometimes required to perform specific tasks in order to complete missions, and it was always good to make sure precautions were taken. Ino, like most of the other kunoichi she knew performed it as standard. When life was as fleeting as ninja knew it to be it was far too easy to get caught up in the moment. An unwanted pregnancy could be disastrous and termination was not always a viable option.

Once or twice Ino had thought about just discontinuing with the jutsu, and just not say anything until… but she could never follow through with the decision. The thought of lying to the Uchiha, even a lie of omission was enough to make her stomach turn; it just wasn't her nature to deceive him in such a way. Even if the price of honesty was her own true happiness.

"You're thinking again." The sound of his voice, thick and heavy from where he had been on the verge of sleep, broke through her, not all that pleasant, musings.

"Hmm?" Ino started, trying to get her head back into the moment and turned her face so she could look at him.

"You were thinking," Sasuke said smiling lightly and kissing the top of her head. "You always get this little crease between your eyes when you think, that's how I know."

"I'll have to remember that." The blonde said, absentmindedly twitching her nose as she stared unseeingly towards the window. The sky was at its most breath taking, at this time of day but all the natural beauty was lost on Ino.

"What were you thinking about?" He whispered, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of Ino's eyes, before letting his fingers wander lightly over the contours of her face.

"Oh, nothing really." She murmured vaguely, her eyes still on the un-curtained window.

The sun was bleeding to death in the evening sky, flooding the heavens with vivid patches of gold and crimson, some eventually darkening to a cool purple as the evening drew in. Birds returning to their nests were black arrowheads against the red backdrop and the mottled sky was like a child's colouring book, layers of colour splashed brilliantly one on top of the other.

"After all this time and you still think you can lie to me?" His hand moved up her back and finding the sensitive spot just below her shoulder rubbed small circles, chuckling lightly as she arched into his touch.

"Come on Ino, spill." The blonde kunoichi let her eyes fall shut; it wasn't fair really, he knew her body too well and knew just how to brake down her defences. She could feel those same defences melting under his tender caress, turning her body to liquid fire and her brain to slush. And as always, it was impossible to think clearly when Sasuke touched her like that.

Ino mumbled something almost inaudibly, her face half buried in Sasuke's chest, but murmured or not he made out her words and his hand immediately froze. "Say that again."

Ino's mind screeched to a holt. Oh Kami had she just blurted out what she thought she had? Tentatively she raised her head once more, and looked at Sasuke's unreadable face. The dark eyes that were locked with her own, their expression intense and burning. Oh Kami she had!

"Umm," She said not really wanting to look him in the face as she spoke but finding it impossible to look away. "I think I said 'I wanna have your babies'."

In spite of the warmth of the evening Ino felt a chill run over her as a handful of seconds stretched out into hours. The tick-tock of the clock slicing time into fragments the only sound in the still room, but yet she thought she could feel her world crumbling around her. It was just as she suspected, Ino thought risking a glance a Sasuke's face, he didn't want a family with her.

A long suffering sigh forced it's way past the onyx eyed male's lips as he pushed the blonde, none too gently, off of him. So that she landed with a soft thump on matrices and lay on her back beside him as apposed to being sprawled on top of him. Moving onto his side he looked down at her, his brow furrowed in evident irritation "Took you fucking long enough to work that one out, didn't it?"

Then an insane grin, that would have challenged Naruto at his best, was spreading across his face and leaning down began peppering Ino's face with kisses. The blonde young woman could feel her worries and fears melting like ice under the warm caress of the sun, and could not help but laugh at how wrong she had been to doubt.

"Want to get started now?" His cheeky question was answered as Ino pulled him into a slow heated kiss and surrender her body to the wondrous pleasure that was loving the man who loved her.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


	19. Heaven

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I know it's taken a while, but I'm up to my eyes in gift fics and also my two kittens have been ill.

**Muse:** The poor things… having to live with you. But to **hakuisagirl**, shelvesinthecloset, **Drunksonic,** Yoruichi 'Ino', **AkemiYumikov3,** shadowphoenix101 and **kiwi4m4** we say thank you for their reviews help yourselves to Christmas crackers. (holds out box)

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **hakuisagirl.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_The journey leads straight into light,  
When the dawn hits the horizon,  
Walk on through majestic gates,  
For another hundred days,  
Angels of eternity,  
And the sentinels of creed,  
Even the way to safe a new world,_

* * *

**Heaven**

Sakura's scream of fear tore through the night like a sharp blade through a scrap of silk. Like a wild animal she ran in fear for her life, bolting through the night-time streets of Konoha, making enough noise to wake the dead. Only, nothing now would ever be enough to wake the pale and lifeless figure she had seen sprawled across the floor.

Sasuke looked after her felling form and shook his head ruefully. She didn't understand, none of them could ever hope to understand what he had done. For he had not killed the girl over whose body he crouched. Not killed her, but simply set her free.

Sighing at the pink haired ninja's stupidity he sank to his knees and lovingly brushed light blonde strands out of a heart shaped face that was as pale and perfect as an angels skull. There was not a single line or flaw to ruin the stunning face that looked as serene as if she were merely sleeping. Her small delicate nose, arched brows and high cheek bones, and of course the soft rose pink lips that even in death gave the sweetest kisses he had ever known.

_They had been wondering through the main square looking at the brightly decorated market stalls that were selling everything and anything. And she had bounded over to one and in that moment he had known that their time together had finally come to an end. He had always known that their relationship would be brief and that sooner or later a sign would come and she would have to move on._

_Laughing she had bent and pick up some small glittering object before holding it aloft so that he too would be able to see it. In that moment a sudden wind had come to life and whipped her long silver gold hair back away from her face. It had sent the strands streaming out behind her and pressed the thin pale blue silk of her robes slightly to her body. The bright sun gleamed on the finger she held in her raise hands; a porcelain statue that was her double except for one thing…._

"_Yamanaka Ino, where are your wings?" His whisper of amazement was lost under the sound of the crowds and the rustling of the leaves over head, but the look of wonderment was evident of his face._

"_Look, Sasuke-kun," She had called joyously, waving her prise in delight. "Angels!"_

"Angels." His voice was soft and tender and he bent his head and kissed the lips that were already starting to turn cold. "You are my angel."

The soul survivor of the Uchiha massacre hummed contentedly to himself as he shifted position so that he could gently rest the head of the dead kunoichi in his lap. Soon there would be people, all crying and screaming. Yelling out questions, demanding answers that they did not have the ability to understand. But she had understood

_In those last frantic moments as she gasped for breath and thrashed desperately to free herself from him, her pain and suffering were agony for him. He heated seeing her in such a way, but it was a necessary evil. It was the only way for his golden flower to truly be granted her freedom. And at the end when she could no longer find the strength to try and pry his fingers from around her throat one gasped question had managed to fight its way past her lips._

"_Why?" The unearthly pupiless eyes the pure colour of the rain had begged._

"_Because you have to go back." She had followed his gaze as his eyes flickered towards the fire and the angel that had been placed in the centre of the mantelpiece. "I have to give you back your wings."_

And then all too soon the small house was filled with people, all of them angry and bewildered, but he did not really mind. The last Uchiha sat staring blankly at the white painted wall, a slight smile playing on his lips. They had long since taken her body away, but it did not matter for the part of her that was really her was no longer being forced to dwell within the earth bound vessel. No, the real, essential essence of her was flying freely on wings of spun silver.

"Why!?"

"Why!?"

"Why!?"

From all sides came the same question, repeated over and over again, until he got weary and no longer bothered to respond. And yet even as he grew enraged with their inability to understand he also found himself greatly amused by their ignorance. They were foolish and naive all of them, even her team-mate, the Nara who all clamed to be a genius had not been able to see what she really was.

"_Because angels need to fined their wings."_

People milled uncertainly around the room, unsure what to do or who even needed to be doing it. But eventually everyone found their gaze returning to the dark haired male who was gazing raptly into the middle distance. He was a traitor, an avenger and now too, it seemed that he was a killer. The cold-blooded murderer of the woman he had publicly professed to love beyond all others.

"Why did you do it Sasuke?" The pain in the tone was evident to all except for the person to whom the question was directed. "Did you hate her after all? How could you kill her Sasuke!?

He could hear them talking, but the voices seemed to be coming from a long way off. Three people were standing before him, his former sensei Kakashi, Naruto and the Godaime Hokage herself. But all three were eclipsed by the shinning silvery light that emanated from the fourth person, the one that only he could see.

His angel was standing before him.

The light came from her glowing with a glacial radiance, as pure as sunlight glancing off a snowdrift. Her skin was flawlessly pale, her long fair hair lightly flecked with gold and silver, her robe a waterfall of white silk that plunged to the ground and lay in folds that conceal her feet. She was a straight as a willow-wand, an icon of heavenly perfection. The only touch of colour about her face was the suggestion of pink at her lips. Her eyes two translucent orbs of blue, that he knew would reflect every star in the heavens, that were turned upon him with a look of compassion and unspoken love that made his heart soar.

"Ino-chan," Those that were close enough to him marvelled at the tender loving quality of his voice and the smile that lit up his face. "I can see your wings!"

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	20. Expectations

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Well I wrote this in an hour to keep Nix from dismembering me for having posted an angst ridden drabble for Xmas. So, Nix, this is the Xmas one and can I please have my remaining limbs back now, please?

**Muse:** You should have taken her fingers then she wouldn't have been able to write. But still we say thank you to **Yoruichi 'Ino',** WolfFlowerz, **kiwi4m4,** AkemiYumikov3, **Drunksonic,** shelvesinthecloset and **shadowphoenix101,** and give you each a Christmas hat.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Yoruichi 'Ino'.**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Call it dumb call it luck call it love or whatever you call it but,  
Everywhere I go I keep her picture in my wallet like here,  
Take a look at my girlfriend,  
She's the only one I got,  
Not much of a girlfriend,  
I never seem to get a lot,_

* * *

**Expectations**

The group lounging in a quiet spot just to the side of training ground three looked up as the sound generated by the trio approaching them shattered the peace of the afternoon. Uchiha Sasuke was, well the only word for it was stalking, across the ground his feet come down hard as if he were crushing invisible enemies under foot. His evident bad temper seemed to hang in the air around him like some dark cloud. Behind him smirking and cackling like a pair of idiots that had just escaped from the local loony bin where Inuzuka Kiba, sex crazed dog-nin in chief, and Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's number one knucklehead ninja.

When the Uchiha reached the group he slumped backwards against on of the many trees, folded his arms over his chest and glared at the world in general. There was something dangerously close to a pout on his lips. A moment later he was joined by the other two, both still howling with laughter and having to lean on each other to keep from falling to the ground.

For a long moment the group of four shinobi watched the trio of new arrivals with, mild since none of the quartet were predisposed to curiosity, interest. Abram Shino was in much the same stance as Sasuke, though minus the pout. Akimichi Choji was munching his way through a packet of his favourite flavour potato chips. Sabaku no Kankuro was lounging on the ground his head supported by his arms as he stared thoughtfully into the middle distance. And the fourth member of the group…

"What's wrong with you?" Nara Shikamaru said in a board tone, finally braking the silence and fixing Konoha's other genius with a look of world-weary resignation.

"Nothing." Was the huffy response that his inquiry got. But the Uchiha did push his lower lip out further, very much in the manner of a toddler on the verge of a temper tantrum.

"He's sulking!" The dog-nin crowed happily, grinning so widely that the top of his head seemed to be in real danger of falling off.

"I am not." Sasuke spat, directing a look of such intense hatred at the Inuzuka it wouldn't have been surprising if he had self-combusted on the spot.

"All right then," Shino shocked the whole group by being the next one to open his mouth, the bug-nin was hardly known for his garrulous and out going personality. "Why is he not sulking?"

"Because Ino wouldn't kiss him under the mistletoe." Sniggered Naruto, the blonde male was clearly delighted to have this optionally to taunt his team-mate and was determined to make the most of it.

"Come again?" Choji questioned, potato chip frozen half to his mouth as he suddenly took a interest in the conversation, for though she could be a real brat at times he really cared for his blue eyed team-mate.

It was a well known fact that since the pair had got together some six weeks before hand, Ino and Sasuke hardly missed an optionally to stick their tongues down each others throats. Seriously grossing out their friends in the process. Hell, the mind walking kunoichi had spent most of her seventeen years lusting after the Sharingan user so this sudden refusal on Ino's part was definitely cause for comment.

"Shut it Dobe!" The dark haired male snarled, though no one seemed to be listening to him. They were all to busy with Naruto's revelation to pay him any attention.

"What?" The word was half question, half bark of laughter as Kankuro's dark eyes danced. "Are you really saying that the number one Uchiha fangirl refused to kiss her pretty boy bitch?"

"Damn right she refused to kiss him." The sand shinobi's grin faded and was replaced by a look of mingled resignation and misery. The puppeteer almost seemed to curl back into himself as, like some wild force of nature, his sister advanced upon the group

Sabaku no Temari was a truly magnificent sight when angry, as many would agree. It had also been the last thought of many as crossing the homicidal, all be it beautiful, blonde when she was in such a mood was tantamount to suicide. She reminded Shino of one of the large felines that inhabited the Forest of Death. All power and killer instinct, yet drawn with sleek lines and a grace that could not be denied.

She strode up to the group, veering slightly off of her straight course so that she could smash her shoulder into the Uchiha who bared his teeth at her back but make no move to retaliate physically. The navy-eyed female tried to kicker her brother on the leg as she past, but used to her ways of _showing affection_ Kankuro dodged the blow. Temari came to a halt before Shino, wound her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him deeply. If he was startled by his girlfriend's actions he did not show it, but simply kissed her back until lack of air forced them apart.

"I know I'm gonna regret this," Shikamaru started, averting his eyes from the sight of the sand puppeteer who looked as if seeing his sister making out with someone was going to make him sick. "But why did Ino refuse?"

"None of your business." Sasuke hissed at the lazy ninja and the company in general and taking a tip from dark blonde kicked out at Kiba who was shaking with mirth.

"Well if you're not going to be a man," Temari's expression made it clear she didn't think he was anyway. "And tell them, shall I?"

"Hang on." Choji fixed slightly worried eyes on Temari as a thought started to form in his mind. "Was Sakura there? Cus if she was there then –"

"No, it wasn't Pinky that was the problem." The wind princess waved away his concern with a hand; her eyes still fixed maliciously on the face of her best friend's boyfriend.

"Bite your tongue Sabaku." The Uchiha snapped, jerking slightly as he made to step towards the aggravating female but thought better of it when he saw the way that Shino's arm tightened around her waist. If he hurt either of them Ino would have his head, or something else, either way it was not a good idea.

"Just tell them already." The blonde demon vessel was almost bouncing up and down on the spot with anticipation, he bright blue eyes shining with the promise of the imminent humiliation of his friend.

"Don't even –" But the Yamanaka's boyfriend was cut off before he could finish warning the girl off.

"Ino wouldn't kiss him under the mistletoe cus she didn't like where he was wearing it." The triumph Temari felt at delivering such a blow to Sasuke's ego was clear from the way that the smirk that was fluting with her lips.

"That's not true." Sasuke wailed, but his protestations were drowned out by the laughter that filled the air as the whole group expressed their delight at his misfortune.

The truth was that Sasuke was not sulking because Ino had refused to kiss him under the mistletoe, even if he had been wearing it in a rather unconventional place. No, he was sulking because the blonde had told him that he was going to have to wait till that night to get his Christmas present, which meant he still had a whole six or seven hours to go.

But, he reflected that it was Yamanaka Ino that he was waiting for and she had made a habit of being worth waiting for. Maybe it was six or seven hours to go, but he had great expectations of the night to come.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and Merry Christmas

Lamanth


	21. Trouble Lurking

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry for taking so long to update, but I've been trying to make SasuIno videos to post on YouTube. I've only got one so far.

**Muse:** She's as no good at them either. But thank-you to **pixieface Lust,** Drunksonic, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** Rainforestfrogs, **WolfFlowerz,** AkemiYumikov3 and **kiwi4m4,** who all reviewed that last drabble. You all get to give Kiba a pat.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **pixieface Lust**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_I used to think that happy endings were only in the books I read,  
But you made me feel alive when I was almost dead,  
You filled that empty space with the love I used to chase,  
And as far as I can see it don't get better than this,  
So butterfly here is a song and it's sealed with a kiss,  
And a thank you miss,_

* * *

**Trouble Lurking**

"And what time did you get in last night?" The dark haired male drawled as he watched his sixteen-year-old son wander out of the back door and into the small garden, at this time of year filled with bright flowers in full bloom. Their heavy perfume filled the air and the only sound was the buzz of fat lazy bumblebees winging too and fro, trying to convince the world that in spite of all the evidence to the contra that they really were hard at work. As if.

"Late." The teen sighed as he sank down onto the well tended lawn, not even bothering to comment on the fact that his up tight sire was lying stretched out on the garden bench looking unaccustomedly relaxed.

"Oh?" Sasuke eyed his only child with interest. Uchiha Takahiro looked almost exactly as his father had done at the same age, same dark hair and pale skin, well-built yet lean body; the only difference was the eyes. Where as Sasuke's were pupiless inky orbs Takahiro's were the same iridescent icy blue shade, though still devoid of pupils, as his mother's.

A Sharingan master, who could also perform the Shintenshin no Jutsu of the Yamanaka clan, Sasuke smiled to himself, a truly terrifying opponent. As shinobi went his son really did have it all going for him, and yet he was currently starring dazedly into the middle distance, a rather soppy smile spread across his face. That alone was enough to have a prickle of unease running down the older Uchiha's spine.

"I was at this party and I met this girl… Tanaka Chouko." The sound that Takahiro made was somewhere between a sigh and a groan as he recalled the events of the previous night. _Butterfly Child_, the name really did suit her.

"Tanaka Chouko?" And there it was, the day had been well, perfect was the only word for it, and Sasuke never trusted days like that. "The Lord Tanaka Daiki's daughter, that Tanaka Chouko?"

Sasuke had long ago, reconciled himself with the fact that Fate had it in for him and liked nothing better than to metaphorically rain on his parade. And here, just as expected, came the storm clouds, in the shape of his son naturally. If trouble was lightning then being anywhere near his only offspring was the equivalent of standing on top of the Hokage monument in a thunderstorm wearing copper armor, including the helmet, and yelling that Kami-sama was a two faced bastard.

"She's got the face of an angel…" He trailed off dreamily. Chouko's face wasn't the only thing she had gotten from an angel of that he was sure, but there were also a few things the devil had given her too.

"Oh no! I can't be having with this sort of trouble. Yamanaka Ino, this is all your fault!" Sasuke bellowed in the direction of the door as he went from horizontal to vertical without seeming to pass through any of the phases in-between. "Come and deal with your son."

"He's your son too you know." The blonde woman said mildly as she stepped into the bright sunlight, absentmindedly brushing out the wrinkles in her purple skirt. It was funny really, she was always _Yamanaka_, as opposed to Uchiha, when anything went wrong, the same way that there were times when Takahiro was always _her_ son.

"Well… Yes… Well…" He mouthed silently for a moment as he looked at the thirty-six-year-old woman who looked just the same as she had when she herself was sixteen. And made him feel just the same way he had when he was sixteen, which was not a good way to feel given what was going on. It made it so hard to concentrate. "Tell him to listen to his father then."

"Why? I never did." Ino asked blithely, before giving her husband a suggestive up and down look that clearly said he should be very happy that she hadn't. She wouldn't be wearing his ring on her finger if she had listened to her father and neither would she be sharing his bed.

"Neither did I, I married you didn't I." A reminiscent smile crossed Sasuke's face as he savored the memory.

So what if his furious father had cut him off? Ino was, and always would be, worth it and that was the point that his sire had failed to grasp. He had tried to force Sasuke into an arranged marriage after for the good of the clan, so he said, he had named his youngest son as his heir since he felt it was the best interest of the Uchiha name. And of course it went without saying that his decision had nothing to do with the fact that Itachi had run away and married a kunoichi from Sunagakure some three months before hand. But now Uchiha Fugaku was almost at the end of his life and if he wanted ensure that the Uchiha clan remained one of the most powerful in Fire County then he was going to have to swallow his pride. Not something he was used to.

Shaking his head to clear it of the thoughts of defied marriage contracts, elopements and all the rest of it, Sasuke turned to his son once more. "But that is not the point."

"Then what is? And what's it got to do with Chouko?" By this point Takahiro was also on his feet and matching his father's glare with a heated one of his own. He was a Uchiha damn it and no one ever told a Uchiha what they could or could not do, their word was law. The only problem was Sasuke tended to see the world in exactly the same way, stupid Uchiha pride.

"So he's told you has he?" Ino raised one brow at the peeved look that crossed Sasuke's face; he did so hate it when she found out things before he did. "Well you're his father, talk to him."

"Uchiha Takahiro you listen to me." Sasuke started, drawing himself up to his full height as he narrowed his eyes as his son. "You stay away from that girl, or I'll disown you."

"How can you disown me?" Takahiro asked, his expression showing baffled innocence. Neither of his parents were taken in by the act. "You don't own anything."

"Don't speak to your father like that." Ino said automatically, rolling her eyes as she did so. Talking back was just one more thing to add to the list of things that Uchiha's excelled in. Both of them

"Well you do." He countered, completely unabashed as he pointed the fact out.

"It's expected, I'm his wife." The mind walker had her hands on her hips, her chin thrust out in an aggressive gesture. Just as well that she always had a smart-ass comeback too. "And don't speak to me like that!"

"Yes," Sasuke nodded his head in agreement without even realizing he was doing so. "Don't speak to her like that!"

"Well who am I expected to speak to like that then?" The dark haired teen growled petulantly.

"Now you're speaking to me like that!" His equally dark haired and equally petulant father bellowed back.

"Well she started speaking to me like that!" The youngest Uchiha snarled defensively, pointing at his mother who was eyeing her only child without sympathy.

Takahiro loved his parents dearly, it was part of the reason why he, though a highly ranked ninja, was still living at home. Though there was also the fact that it was a lot cheaper than getting a place of his own. It was just at times he wished that the three of them wouldn't fight so much. If only they both weren't so stubborn when it came to admitting he was in the right, which was most of the time as he saw it.

As it happened both his parents would have agreed with such a statement, though both would have had rather different ideas about who was right and who was wrong.

"Uhhh…?" Silence fell over all three as they broke off mid harangue and turned to glare at the intruder, a rather embarrassed Sixth Hokage. "Is this a bad time?"

"Naruto! Baka!" Ino yelled, her hands still on her hips as she glared a hole in the blond male who was one of the most powerful men in the whole of Fire Country. "Don't you know never to interrupt a good argument!?"

"Gomen, Ino-san. I didn't mean…" Takahiro watched in fascination as the man who was technically his mother's boss, as well as that of himself and his father, trailed off apologetically in the face of the blonde's wrath.

"Yeah, well now we're going to have to start all over again!" She snarled, jabbing a finger into his chest. The guy was still the same Dobe he's always been; but then again maybe it had been too much to hope that even someone like Sakura would be able to control him. "I can't believe that the safety of Konoha in the hands of someone with the attention span of a three year old snorting icing-sugar and a highly developed sense of _I-am-the-leader-obey-me-mwhahahaha_."

"Emm… I really am so sorry Ino-san…." Naruto continued in a placating manner, too used to Ino's many and varied insults to pay them any attention, if she really felt he was a bad leader then she would have handed in her headband right at the start, it was just the way she was.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything, but you see it's just that I've got Lord Tanaka in my office asking for your son." The blond male completely failed to see the look that passed between Sasuke and Ino. And all three failed to see as the teen in question silently begin to slip over to the garden gate. "He was just going on and on, something to do with his daughter and shinobi having no honour. And the only reason he's still there and not here is because I said I would personably come and get Takahiro."

"Lord Tanaka want's Takahiro…?" The Mangekyo Sharingan user started, his gaze catching Ino's as the two indulged in the silent communication that came so naturally to long-term couples. Mentally they ran over the fragments of information that their son had let slip as well as what Naruto had told them, it all added up to one thing.

"TAKAHIRO!!" He was half way down the street and still accelerating when the sound of both of his parents roaring his name shattered the peace and quiet of the summer afternoon.

"When I get my hands on him he's going to wish he was dead." Sasuke said to the world in general, his eyes momentarily flashing blood crimson as the Sharingan activated due to his fuming temper.

"Funny," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head much the same way he used to do when he was young as he looked at his former team-mate. "That's just what Lord Tanaka said too."

* * *

**A/N**

Takahiro - from Japanese _貴 __(taka)_ "valuable, noble" or _孝 __(taka)_ "filial piety" combined with _大 __(hiro)_ "large, great" or _浩 __(hiro)_ "prosperous".

Chouko - from Japanese _蝶 __(chou)_ "butterfly" and _子 __(ko)_ "child".

Daiki - from Japanese _大 __(dai)_ "large, great" combined with _輝 __(ki)_ "radiance", _樹 __(ki)_ "tree" or _貴 __(ki)_ "valuable, noble".

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	22. Precious Treasure

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: I had so much fun writing this one you would not believe it. (hugs) I just love being able to write about my favourite Uchiha.

**Muse:** (rolls eyes) To **WolfFlowerz,** _Drunksonic,_ **shelvesinthecloset**, _beautifulgeek11_, **Yoruichi 'Ino',** _gorypaldin2,_ **LaurenMichelle,** _AkemiYumikov3_ and **Rainforestfrogs**, we say thank-you and give you each your very own Akatsuki cloak.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Rainforestfrogs**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Well I'm not paralyzed,  
But, I seem to be struck by you,  
I want to make you move,  
Because you're standing still,  
If your body matches,  
What your eyes can do,  
You'll probably move right through,  
Me on my way to you,_

* * *

**Precious Treasure**

This was it the moment that he, Uchiha Sasuke, had been waiting for, for the past ten years. He had lived and trained for it, and now at the age of eighteen he was finally about to take his revenge on the man who had stolen everything good from his life. His life, his family and love he never got to know. But no, he was not meant to think about her. It clouded his mind with the red mist of anger and if there was one thing he could not afford to do, it was to attack his brother in a blind rage.

And so that was the one rule he had to follow, to never think about Yamanaka Ino lying dead at the feet of Uchiha Itachi.

He could sense the two, strong, chakra signatures. Both were familiar to him, the one tugging at something deep within his memory, but his attention was too focused on the second to pay the recollection any attention. With one final jump they, he and his team-mate, for this mission medically trained Haruno Sakura, landed in the clearing in which stood two members of the Akatsuki.

Half hidden in shadow stood a tall blonde, who Sasuke immediately identified as the explosion freak Deidara, who Sakura should be able to deal with. The hair pulled up into the accustomed high ponytail, the one blue eye blocked from view, in a style that was so reminiscent of the girl that he had lost. But every fibber of his being was fixed solely on the man who had haunted his dreams for more years than he cared to remember. The male who stood calm and relaxed in the clearing's centre, almost as if he was simply waiting for them.

"You take Deidara, I'll deal with _him_." The pure hatred that resounded in Sasuke's voice was evident to all present, but was over looked.

"Why is it that people are always mistaking me for Deidara-san, un?" The voice that came from the blonde in the shadows was both somewhat miffed and quite definitely female.

"I could not say," Itachi said smiling slightly in the direction of his partner, that is to say the corners of his mouth raised slightly but whether or not he was really amused it was impossible for Sasuke to say. "A side from the fact you are both blonde, you do share _certain_ characteristics."

"Are you trying to say I look like a man!?" Her voice cried indignantly as she slipped from the shadows towards the elder Uchiha. "Un." She added as an after thought, and as she moved across the clearing her face was suddenly eliminated by the moon's pale silvery light.

"On the contrary Ino-chan," He replied smoothly, inclining his head in her direction. "I was referring to the fact that Deidara is rather effeminate."

"That's all right then. After all, art is a bang, un… and I could just bang you." And suddenly the warm night air was filled with the sound of her laughter and her gaze fixed upon the faces of the people she had once called her friends. "Why so quite all of a sudden Forehead? That's not like you is it now. And as for you, _Sasuke-kun_, do you have nothing to say to the girl that you left for dead!?"

The self proclaimed avenger simply stared dumb struck at the girl he had last seen lying face down in a growing pool of her own blood. She hadn't been breathing; there had been no pulse. He knew that, he'd check desperately for any sign of life, before being forced to make his escape and he had found none. And from that moment on he had decided that not only would he take revenge on his brother for the killing of his clan but also for killing the girl that he loved before he had even been able to tell her how he felt. But now here she stood as alive as he was and all words failed Sasuke.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Sakura screeched, as suddenly she was no longer at a loss for words. "Ino! What are you doing with him? And what the hell are you wearing? You can't be with them! How could you just turn your back on Konoha!?"

"How could I turn my back on Konoha!? The problem was that they'd already turned their back on me!" The rage in Ino's voice had her words cutting through the air like a blade. "Did you never wonder Sakura why there were so few kunoichi in our village? I'll tell you why, it's because they never thought females were worth the trouble."

Itachi looked on benignly, he knew that there were times when the Yamanaka needed to vent her emotions less they consume her fully and rip her apart from the inside out. At times he thought that it must surly be one of the reasons they fitted together so well, not just as mission companions but as lovers also. They were total opposites; he always kept his emotions hidden while the tempestuous blonde never worried about letting the whole world know just how she was feeling. And between them they found some sort of balance, a way of being complete that they would not otherwise have had.

"That's not true Ino. I don't know how-" Sakura started but her words were cut off as the blonde who was once a shinobi of The Hidden Leaf Village began to speak once more.

"Don't be so stupid. I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get half the recognition that the rest of you did. And still no one was prepared to give me any sort of help. You see Sakura I wasn't taken as the apprentice of the Godaime Hokage. I wasn't the best weapons expert the village had ever seen. And I wasn't the heiress to one of the most influential clans in the whole of Fire country." Itachi was the only one who noted the bitter smile that twisted her lips.

"I was just Yamanaka Ino, silly little flower girl, and don't try and tell me that's not how people saw me. You were the one who constantly insisted on reminding me of that fact." Ino placed her hands on her hips, which were well defined since she had made the alterations to her Akatsuki cloak. "As I recall your favourite habit used to be sticking the knife in my back! Always trying to belittle me and put me down in front of _everyone_, just so you could get what you wanted. But from the looks of you I'd say even with me dead you didn't get it, not from Sasuke anyway."

The pink haired medically trained ninja mouthed silently, unable to say anything in that face of her one time best friend's rage. It was true that while she had been drinking in everything that her sensei was teaching her, she had never once stopped to think what it must be like for someone who wasn't getting the opportunities she was. But that last comment had reminded her why she had never bothered to spare a thought for Ino. Perfect little Ino who even when she was dead had somehow managed to keep Sakura from getting into Sasuke's bed.

Hesitantly Sasuke took a step closer to the pair clad in black coats, with the familiar red cloud pattern. One hand reached out, almost as if he were trying to calm a frightened animal that might flee if he made any sudden movement. "Ino, I-"

"Silence." The word was almost a hiss and instinctively the master of the Mangekyo Sharingan moved closer to his companion. "You have long since fortified any right you _may_ once have had to speak to her."

"It's all right Itachi-kun," The use of the suffix after his brother's name and the way Ino's hand lightly touched his arm made something in Sasuke's gut writhe. "There is nothing he can say that can hurt _us_ now."

Used to her sudden swift changes in mood, Itachi was not surprised when she instantly moved to calm him. He knew that it was through no desire to save his little brother that she acted, but that she simply did not think him important enough to rouse the elder Uchiha. However something akin to satisfaction flooded through him when he saw the way Sasuke's face contorted at Ino's simple gesture. Such as small movement and yet it spoke so deeply of the connection between them.

"But you were dead," And there was just the barest hint of a tremble in youngest Uchiha's voice. "I saw you die, Ino. I saw _him_ kill you!"

"No, little brother," But there was nothing brotherly about the sneer that twisted Itachi's lips. "You saw her fatally wounded and then ran like the cowered you are. Too concerned with saving your own skin to spare a thought for the woman you professed to love. Oh yes, I know all about that. But if you had really cared you would not have left such a precious treasure."

Ino smiled lightly and rested her head on the shoulder of the man who was her mission partner, friend and lover. Eyes the colour of rain flicked over the pair standing opposite her. Sakura nervous, unsure what she should do, she had been sent to confront and kill an enemy and was instead confronted with a dead friend/rival. While Sasuke simply looked as if he had been struck round the face; dazed and shocked was the only way she could describe him as Itachi's words washed over him like boiling acid.

"We took her back with us, healed her thinking that she might give us some sort of leverage when it came to capturing the Nine-tailed Fox. What we found, however as something far better. True, it was evident that she had been woefully under trained, in _all_ aspects of her life, but there was such a well of untapped potential within her. And her thirst for knowledge and desire to prove herself… Never before have I had such a _willing or responsive_ pupil."

The double meaning behind his brother's chosen words was not lost on Sasuke. If he had been unaware of the depth and intimate nature of the relationship between the sensual blonde and the other Akatsuki member the way Itachi slid his arm around her waist left him in no doubt. The blue-eyed female leaned into the caress; her body curving with the ease of practice to fit against his, as if it was something she had done many times before.

"Well you know what they say, Itachi-kun," Ino said smiling as her left hand flitted though a set of signs almost faster than the human eye could see. "One mans trash is another mans treasure."

"That is true enough, Ino-chan." He responded almost affectionately, both their pale faces lit by the elegant collie of lighting that now wound around the blonde kunoichi's left arm like a silver snake. "And to the Akatsuki, and myself, you are a precious treasure indeed."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	23. Mischief Managed

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy working on a colab fic called Homophobia with my Nyx. We've posted under the penname **Ino and Temari**, and we'd really appreciate it if you could take a look.

**Muse:** Thanks and a Konoha forehead protectors to **WolfFlowerz,** _shadowphoenix101,_ **shelvesinthecloset,**_ Rainforestfrogs,_ **Drunksonic,** _Yoruichi 'Ino',_ **AkemiYumikov3** and _kiwi4m4,_ who all reviewed last time.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **shadowphoenix101**. (Lamb's amazing wife and co-author)

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_She can't keep a secret,  
For more than an hour,  
She runs on 100 proof attitude power,  
And the more she ignores me,  
The more I adore her,  
What can I do?  
I'd do anything for her,_

* * *

**Mischief Managed**

It was one of those glorious hot bright days that seemed to perpetually fill the Konoha summertime. The sky was a deep flawless blue and there was not the slightest wisp of cloud to spoil the view.

Uchiha Sasuke leaned back on the bench and shifted his neck and shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness that was starting to form in his muscles, his body wasn't used to such prolonged stretches of inactivity. He glanced sideways at the male sitting next to him, Abram Shino was staring off into the middle distance, or so it appeared but with the shades it was hard to tell. Sasuke didn't mind, he wasn't much of a social creature and much preferred sitting in silence to idle chit-chat.

From behind him came the soft sound of giggling, and if he tilted his head right back he could just about see the two blonde females lying stretched out on the warm grass. Yamanaka Ino and Sabaku no Temari the respective girlfriends of himself and the Abram, had spent the last three or so hours lying in that same spot, only moving to roll from back onto stomach, or vies versa.

He didn't mind really, after all it was only natural that Ino would want to spend time with her best girlfriend when she was around. Temari lived so far away that he could understand that they would want to make the most of the time they had together. It was just that it was also very rare for himself and Ino to find any time when neither of them had to worry about rushing off on their next mission, and he'd been looking forward to spending sometime with her, just like any ordinary couple.

Sasuke got the impression that Shino felt similarly but didn't feel the need to deal with the situation just yet. But sooner or later the sun was going to set, and then, no matter what the girls might have in mind the four of them would be going their separate ways. While he was prepared to tolerate having to give up Ino during the day, the night was a whole different story. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk slightly at the thought of…

Quite suddenly the Uchiha survivor became aware that someone was watching him intently. True people had been watching both himself and Shino on and off since they had arrived, the bug-nin had his own share of fangirls. Not so many as Sasuke, not just because of the bug thing, bust mostly because it would take someone either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to cross Temari. Where as Ino just seemed to get a kick out of seeing him suffer from all the unwanted attention. But once they got past the whole bug thing a fair percentage of the female population picked up on the hotness factor, but there was just no getting past the Temari thing.

Casting around he was, there for surprised to find that the intense stare was coming from none other than Abram Shino. His face was twisted into an odd expression the meaning of which Sasuke could not quite define and the golden eyes of a predator were looking over the top of the shades and focused on his face in such a way that made him feel rather wary. He raised one dark brow in a silent enquiry; but instead of answering Shino shuffled along the bench closer to Sasuke.

Naturally surprised, Sasuke instinctively moved backwards. People passing by stop to watch fascinated as the pair continued to move across the seat, until Sasuke was pressed right into one corner, Shino almost sitting on his lap. It was a sight that had to be seen to be believed, and even then people weren't quite sure.

Sasuke on the other hand was sure, and he was sure that something in the world was severally fucked up and whatever it was he didn't want it to go any further. Shino was looking at him through slightly glazed eyes, as strange small smile playing on his lips that though familiarly somehow looked completely out of place on his face. He could still hear the sound of the two girls laughing and looking round debated screaming at Temari to come and control her boyfriend.

Then it came to him that what he could hear was not in fact the sound of the two girls laughing, but rather that of only one of them. Looking back at Shino's dazed eyes and that oddly familiarly smile, pieces rapidly began falling into place. Sasuke glanced back at the two blondes lying stretched out of the grass and rolled his eyes. Oh yes, they'd think it was so funny wouldn't they.

Snapping his head back round he placed his hands on the Abram's shoulders to prevent the boy leaning any closer to him. Un-amused onyx orbs locked with glazed gold and when he spoke his voice was almost a hiss. "Yamanaka Ino, you get out of that body right now."

"Aww," Shino whined, pouting up at him. "You're no fun Sasuke-kun."

"I mean it." Sasuke's voice promised severer punishment if his pain in the ass girlfriend didn't quit messing around immediately. But Ino being Ino couldn't resist winding him up a little more, and anyway Sasuke idea of punishment could be quite fun.

"Don't you love me no more Sasuke-kun?" A group of passing Genin, who looked like they were fresh out of the academy, did a double take and stared at the pair obviously having heard the question. Their eyes were nearly falling out of their heads at the sight of a pouting Abram, but the group quickly scattered as Sasuke shot a glare in their direction.

"Now, Ino!" He said in a tone of voice that made it clear he wasn't messing around, and redoubled his hold as Ino tried to lean the bug-nin's body closer to that of her boyfriend, while at the same time she shaped his hands into the release seal.

"UGH!" Shino yelped and jumped backwards, shocked and a little scared to suddenly find his face mere inches from that of Uchiha Sasuke. But the male in question was already leaping to his feet, eyes shinning vivid scarlet as he looked over to where a sniggering Temari was running, tugging a partly conscious Ino after her.

"Oh they are so going to pay for that." He snarled, watching their retreating forms before turning and confronting the stares of the curious onlookers who had witnessed what had just taken place. "Really, really going to pay."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	24. Break Away

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry guys, but I've hit the inspirational equivalent of the Sahara dessert, which is why it's taken me so long to update. I'll try not to make you wait so long for the next one.

**Muse:** Thank you to **Drunksonic,** _anlmoon,_ **WolfFlowerz,** _HyuugaPrincess15,_ **shelvesinthecloset,** _Yoruichi 'Ino',_ and _AkemiYumikov3,_ who all reviewed the last chapter. (hands out cookies)

Dedi: This drabble is dedicated to **Drunksonic**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say,  
Pride will tear us both apart,  
Well now prides gone out the window cross the rooftops, run away,  
Left me in the vacuum of my heart.  
What is happening to me?  
Crazy, some say,  
Where is my friend when I need you most?  
Gone away..._

* * *

**Break Away**

A soft sigh slipped passed his lips as he watched the lithe figure move swiftly down the road towards the village's main gate. The faint light of the moon was more than enough to illuminate the pack she carried on her back. So she was leaving in the dead of night, was she? If he was honest with himself he wasn't really surprised, she thought that this way she could leave without a fuss as well as leaving him with a fitting memento of all that had past between them.

It was a strange parody of the night now so many years past when he had left Konoha in the middle of the night. Except this time it was she who was leaving and he who was going to try and stop her.

-------

Ino walked quickly along the road, the sooner she reached the main gate and left the village proper the better she would feel. Once she was outside the walls it wouldn't matter if her resolve cracked for she would be past the point when turning back was still a viable option. Life in Konoha had become too confusing and complicated. She was living each day trying to compromise between doing the right thing and the thing she wanted to do. Having to choose between her heart and her head.

They were desperate for medics in Suna, she had trained under the Godaime Hokage and only she, Shizune and Sakura could claim to be better than Ino. She had a good solid friendship with Temari and got on well with her two brothers. Even if she did still find Gaara somewhat intimidating, she had no problem dealing with Kankuro's flirtatious ways. When she had put in her request the Kazekage had jumped on it as if it was a gift from heaven and Lady Tsunade had been all too happy to go along with it.

Her father had been, well not exactly against it, but he definitely hadn't been happy. Ino's mother had died when her daughter had been barely three and from then on it had just been the two of them. Just him and his little princesses. Yet when Inoichi saw that his daughter had made up her mind, he grudgingly agreed to abide by her decision. However, some of her friends had not been so easy to convince.

True to form Shikamaru had just called her troublesome and left it at that, while Choji had said as long as she was happy then so was he. Hinata had suddenly reverted to her pre-teen days and nervously playing with her hands had asked Ino if she really had to go. Naruto had grabbed the indigo haired girl and then grabbed Ino too, managing to bang their heads together in the process, and told them both that they'd always be going to see the blonde kunoichi.

Sakura had sobbed and hugged her friend tightly begged her not to go, and then when Ino had told her kindly, yet firmly, that she was going the rosette woman had tired first bribery and then blackmail. Then when screaming proved ineffective she had thrown herself into Sasuke's arms and pleaded with him to make the blue eyed mind walker see that she had to stay. The nineteen-year-old ex avenger had said nothing, glanced from his sobbing girlfriend to the calm composed Yamanaka and then walked off.

However, when he had come around to her apartment, Ino had talked her father into letting her live over their flower shop, the confrontation could not have been more different. She had never seen the Uchiha so close to completely losing control as he had been then. He had raged and screamed and at one point had almost resorted to trying to beat sense into her. Ino had been just as obstinate that she was going and not he or anyone else wasn't going to change.

_"You're staying here." Sasuke snarled, gripping her tightly be the shoulders. "Even if I have to tie you to your bed."_

He hadn't. They got as far as the bed, but rather then tying her up they had ended up making love until the sun started to climb over the horizon, just as both of them had known that they would. And as Ino had lain curled against Sasuke in the early morning light she had known that no matter what, in spite of how much pain it would cause both of them, she had to go.

Trying to block the memory of that, their last encounter for she would not allow herself to see him like that again, from her mind Ino continued along the winding road. In their hearts both of them knew that things between them could never really have worked, that was why Sasuke didn't offer to leave Sakura and why Ino had never asked him to. They were too similar, both of them hot headed, temperamental and always determined to have their own way. They were like a fire that burned too hot and too fast, that would in the end burn its self out or worse still, end up exploding and hurt not only themselves but anyone who happened to get caught in the cross-fire.

Ino could have cried with relief when she rounded the final bend and the gate and gate-house came into view. But a moment later felt the familiar swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach when she spotted the dark figure leaning, oh so casually, against the trunk of one of the trees that lined the roadside. A tired smile half-formed on her lips as she approached him. She had felt his presence, felt him tracking her, almost since she first left her home and was not surprised to see him waiting for her.

Sasuke had made no attempt to suppress his chakra as he first followed, and then over took the blonde who knew him better than anyone else ever had or ever would. And perhaps that was part of the problem, she knew him too well, just as he knew her. He watched as Ino walked slowly over to where he stood, he could see the sad smile that played around her mouth and the way that it failed to reach her eyes. Eyes that were as empty as the starless skies.

She stopped just shy of him, her head bent so that her eyes were on the ground rather than his face. The picture she presented was of a lost child, alone and sad without anyone she could turn to and it made his heart ache. With her hair scraped back from her face she looked so young, far too young to be making the decision that she was. Slowly Sasuke reached out his fingers coming to rest under her chin so that he could raise her head and stared deep into the twin silvery/blue pools that were her eyes.

He could already feel the pain of loss growing within his left breast as if his heart was slowly being rent in two. In his minds eye he could it all. Shining sliver threads fine as strands of silk weaving in and around Ino's heart and binding it to his own. And there would only be so much strain that they could take, only so much distance that could separate the souls they bound together before they'd snap.

Ino looked deep into his eyes but couldn't explain what she saw there, the strange mixture of emotions. She, a Yamanaka who specialised in slipping inside peoples heads couldn't name the feelings she saw swirling in the depths of those dark orbs. All she knew was that the look in those ebony eyes made her heart feel as if was being smashed into mirror bright shards that would fall to the ground to be trampled underfoot like so much broken glass.

"Wherever you go Yamanaka," He whispered softly, adding the tender caress to her name. The only pet name that it had been safe for him to use. "I will find you."

And in the air between then the words changed themselves into; _I will come for you._

"No Sasuke." And the suppressed sobs caused her voice to tremble. "You belong to Sakura, she's the good in you. I'm the weakness, the love that would enslave you."

_I'm the love that would get you killed_, was what they became this time and both of them knew the truth the unspoken words held.

"It's too late for that." Sasuke sighed, moving his hand so that it cupped the side of her face, his palm cool against the warmth of her skin. "I'll never be free of you."

Ino fought the tears as she looked at the beautiful sable orbs gazing down at her. She could see it then; it was love peering back at her from the inky depths of his eyes and to brake the contact she stepped to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. With the hug she could feel the love for him radiating from her and knew that she couldn't have stopped it if she wanted too.

She felt as if her heart was beating wildly like a wild bird trying to brake free from a cage and wondered if it would burst from the love that she felt for him. Ino wanted to scream out at the whole world, that it was not fair. People could search all their lives and never find their one true love, but not her. She had found her one, found Sasuke but life was taking him away from her because he was someone else's. Her love and pain swirled inside of her making the blonde feel light-headed.

Ino found his mouth in a desperate such for comfort and release, Sasuke's unvoiced words ringing inside her skull; _I'll die without you Yamanaka._

* * *

(A/N) I think it's pretty clear to everyone that I really need a beta reader, so if anyone would like the job let me know kay. But know that I am picky when it comes to my work so I'm probably not going to just say yes to the first person that offers.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	25. Mother Nature

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: First off this one kind of got away from me, hence the length of it, and also why it doesn't have much (anything) to do with the title. And the second thing is that it is a sequel to the last drabble.

**Muse: **To **AkemiYumikov3**, _WolfFlowerz,_ **kiwi4m4,** _mood ink,_ **hakuisagirl,** _Drunksonic_, **Yoruichi 'Ino', **and _shadowphoenix101, _we give thanks and a picture of Ino's horse.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **AkemiYumikov3**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Calling all the stars to fall,  
And catch the silver sunlight in your hands,  
Come for me and set me free,  
Lift me up and take me where I stand,  
She believes in everything,  
And everyone and you and yours and mine,  
I've waited for a thousand years,  
For you to come and blow me out my mind,_

* * *

**Mother Nature**

It was one thing that really got to him, twenty-two-year-old Uchiha Sasuke reflected as he and his four companions reached the top of the sand dune and looked out on the vast desert that spread out before them. People always talked about Mother Nature as if she was a sweet tempered old woman rather than the cold-hearted bitch that she was. Nature, when she wanted to be, was just like most other females in his opinion, savage and cruel. Even when they were doing what they perceived to be the right thing they still managed to hurt you.

They would just rip your beating heart right out of your breast and drop it at your feet.

It had been almost three years since she had left the village of her birth. Three long years with only the memory of her last embrace to keep him warm through the long and lonely nights. He had tried his best to do what she had wanted, tried to stay with Sakura, but it had been hopeless. Within three months of Ino's departure they had completely fallen apart. It wasn't the fault of the cherry blossom, it wasn't his either and it probably wasn't even Ino's.

From the moment she left, or maybe even from the moment she announced that she was leaving, he and Sakura had started to disintegrate. Little things about the medic-nin, things that he used to find cute and attractive, suddenly began to grate on his nerves until everything about her became a turn off. Sakura too, quickly grew away from him, and became irritated with his silences and brooding ways, the very things that had attracted her in the beginning. It came as no shock to anyone when the pair, very publicly and very dramatically broke apart completely.

Within weeks Sakura, to the surprise of many, had started dating Hyuuga Neji and three years on they were married and expecting their first child. But as for Sasuke…

The fact was that when she had left the blonde had stolen a part of him, a part of him that he didn't even know he had until it was gone. Something it became all too apparent that he could not, nor would not, live without. But by that time it was too late to do anything about it.

She was gone and she wasn't coming back and for reasons of her own the Godaime Hokage had point blank refused to let Sasuke so much as take a mission that took him anywhere near Suna. The truth was the amber-eyed woman could see trouble when it was right under her nose and letting Sasuke go after the former Konoha kunoichi, intentionally or not, could have sparked another war.

Though that was until now, for now he as well as Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba and Tenten where only a few miles away from The Village Hidden In the Sand. Only a few miles away from Yamanaka Ino.

"Hey look." Kiba suddenly said some half an hour later and pointed to where three riders on horseback were silhouetted against the horizon. "D'you think we're expected."

"Stupid question dog-boy." Tenten responded but she was grinning warmly so the Inuzuka took no offence at her choice of nickname.

"It wasn't a question ya know." Akamaru barked his agreement and cocked his head at the brunet weapons mistress. "You'd think a kunoichi would have learned to pay more attention."

"Here they come!" Naruto's voice cut across the mock fight and was followed by a yelp as he almost fell in his eagerness to get to the bottom of the current dune and close the distance between himself and the approaching riders.

Horses had always played a fairly large roll in Suna, especially the slightly built delicately boned creatures currently flying across the sand as easily as a bird might skim across the surface of a river. Because for all that they were finely built they were exceptionally strong, tough and hardy and had evolved perfectly to the deal with the hot claimant of their homeland. Wide nostrils and small fluted muzzles cooled the heated desert air during the day, they could go for up to three days without water if necessary and also had exceptional endurance. It was also often easier and swifter to travel through The Land of Wind on horseback.

Hooves kicked up flurries of sand that almost seemed to spark as the three riders sped towards the small group. As they approached the sound of hooves thumping on the constantly shifting sands grew steadily louder. They were moving in a standard arrowhead formation, two gleaming chestnut bodies flanking yet also slightly behind the rider on the ebony stead who was in the lead.

When they had closed to within a hundred yards Akamaru dashed towards the approaching trio barking and yipping with delight until he reached the leader. The dark horse tossed its head and snickered but didn't falter in its step. The rider simply laughed as the nin-dog, who was almost a big as their mount, fell in beside the horse and returned to his abandoned, temporally at any rate, master.

"Akamaru's quicker to recognise his friends than the rest of you. Looks like your dog still has more manors than you do Kiba." A female voice laughed as, while the black horse danced under her, the rider reached up and removed the scarf that protected her hair and face from the flying sands. "Hey Naruto."

"Since when can you ride!" Tenten demanded enviously as she looked up into the smiling face of a deeply tanned Yamanaka Ino, while her former team-mate just shook his head and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like troublesome.

"Since about three years ago." She said, pushing a few strands of hair, which had been bleached white blonde by the sun, out of her face. "Gaara-kun –"

There was a pointed cough from one of her two companions and Ino smiled ruefully and rolled her extraordinary light blue eyes. And then glared at Shikamaru until he replaced the pack of cigarettes he'd just pulled out. "Don't even think about it Shika, not around the ponies…"

"Horses woman. For the love of Kami-sama they're horses." But Ino just ignored the lazy-nin's muttering.

"…Anyway I mean Kazekage-sama said that what was the point of have a medic who couldn't travel quickly when the situation called for it. He had me up on a horse the day after I arrived. Talk about a slave driver."

There was another cough, which caused the blonde to click her tongue in annoyance, which in turn had her horse prancing on the spot. For a moment the air was filled with flying sand as the horse leapt from foot to foot causing both its onyx mane and Ino's shoulder length, cropped short for the heat, ice blonde hair to flutter in the air. The dark purple tassels on its simple bridle, which contrasted well with the pale lilac of the girl's outfit, swung in time with its movements and the harness jingled softly.

"There, there my boy. Steady now." The mind walker crooned softly as she rubbed her hand along the stallion's neck. "Daiki, Takahiro, please take the Konoha contingents luggage to Suna and see that it gets to the right guest quarters and then tell _Kazekage-sama_ that I am escorting his guests the rest of the way."

"Yamanaka-sama." The taller of the two intoned, but both bowed their heads in acknowledgement and quickly took the bags that were passed up to them.

If either disliked the order they had been given neither dared to speak the thought aloud for they knew just who out of the three of them held the most power. They were only chuunin all be it ones posed on the edge of promotion and she was Suna's best medic and the confidant of the Kazekage. But as they spurred their mounts back the way they had come neither was looking forward to explaining to Sabaku no Gaara just why the had left his most trusted medic in the desert on her own.

"Well now that they're gone," Ino said smiling as the black stallion under her snorted and pawed at the ground with his right forefoot. "D'you want a ride?"

"Do I ever!" Tenten almost squealed with excitement as she took hold of the blonde's proffered hand and scrambled somewhat inelegantly onto the horse's back and positioned herself behind the saddle so she could hold tightly onto Ino's waist."

"We'll meet you just outside the main gate." The medic-nin yelled as her mount danced sideways eager to be off. "Try not to keep us waiting too long."

And in a flurry of sand they were off, Akamaru running flat out along side them completely ignoring Kiba's sullen rejoinder of "Traitor, is this your way of paying be back for the times I've gone skirt chasing?"

"Troublesome women." Shikamaru intoned, lighting a cigarette and taking a much needed drag, it sucked that he'd had to drop most of the last one but the last time he'd smoked round her horse Ino had almost ripped his head off.

"That's not fair." Naruto howled as he glared moodily at the quartet that was already swiftly shrinking in size. "Why couldn't they have taken me too?"

"Because though it's strong I doubt that horse would have been able to carry you as well, never mind your massive ego." Sasuke said snidely as he too stared at the figures being swallowed by the desert. Three years, three fucking years of waiting and wanting and feeling as if he was only half a person. Feeling as if he were living only half a life. To finally be reunited at last only to have her act as if he wasn't there.

"Like you can talk Teme." The blonde retorted angrily, the whole way here the Uchiha had been sniping at him and it wasn't as if he was as good a all that anyway. Stupid, full of himself Teme.

"Bit me Dobe." He replied automatically. She hadn't said anything to him, hadn't even so much as glanced at him, in fact he may as well not have been there for all the attention she paid him.

"What and get food poisoning." The demon vessel pulled a disgusted face and pantomimed being violently sick. "No thanks."

"Troublesome." The shadow possessor mumbled as he began to fallow in the wake of the two mounted young women, Kiba at his side and the squabbling pair bringing up the rear.

-------

Three years had changed her a lot of that much he was sure as he watch her incline her head towards the Kazekage the better to hear his words, her hand resting lightly beside her plate. She was seated on his right hand side a powerful indication of her states within the Suna community, she was no longer the frivolous, somewhat under rated teen he had known but was now an influential powerful young woman. Sunagakure listen to Sabaku no Gaara and he listen to Yamanaka Ino.

Yes she had changed so much. But like the seasons, which constantly change there was much that was still known and familiar to him. Though her looks had changed, the once pale skin was now a golden bronze and the light gold hair was now silvery white, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Even just sitting quietly on her cushion with her legs neatly tucked under her as she ate she still demanded attention and she got it. Ever since she had entered the room, walking side by side with the Kazekage, there was not one person at the impromptu feast that had not been aware of her.

She was dressed, yet somehow also completely undressed in one of the most extraordinary outfits he had ever seen. An impossibly short sarong like skirt of deep amethyst coloured silk was wrapped snugly around her small waist and accentuate the golden hue of her skin. Her top was made of identical fabric, the silk curved around her back before crossing over her small, yet perfectly formed bust, and was tide off with a simple knot behind her neck. Both skirt and top were decorated with small golden coins that gleamed in the light and jangled musically whenever she moved.

The girl who had once worked behind the counter in her family's flower shop was dressed liked royalty. Indeed, aside from the fact that Temari's outfit with made of teal silk with silver decoration, and that Shikamaru was trying to get his hand under her skirt, Ino was dressed exactly the same way as Suna's wind princess. He noted that she had had her ears pierced for a second time so while she wore the studs her dead sensei had given her she also wore drop earrings of gold filigree set with tiny purple stones.

Even as he watched the redhead whom she was seated next to reached out and lightly flicked one of the ornaments gently causing him to smile slightly, Ino to giggle and Sasuke to feel as if he had just swallowed a quantity of very hot liquid.

He wanted to scream at the one time demon vessel to keep his hands off of the blonde, that he had no right to touch her. That no one but he, Uchiha Sasuke, had the right to so much as lay a finger on her because she was his. But he couldn't. Setting aside the fact that to try and tell the leader of a Hidden Village what they could and couldn't do was tantamount to suicide even on the best of days was the fact that it was so clear that Ino didn't belong to him. Not any more.

The thick gold band hugged her upper right arm tightly and engraved on the burnished metal was an hourglass, the symbol that represented The Sand Village. No, she was no longer his, now she was Sunagakure's and it was a fact that he hated.

-------

"Are you just going to act as if you can't see me?" The solitary figure halted half way down the passageway, the flickering light from the torches dancing over her skin as she glanced over her shoulder at the person who had spoken. "Cus if you are I think you're just being childish."

"Well, Uchiha-san how would you have me act?" Ino's voice was soft; yet apparently disinterested as if she were conversing with a stranger about the weather and not the man who was once her lover.

"Uchiha-san!?" Incredulous disbelief coloured his tone as he closed the remaining distance between them and looked down at her impassive face. "Cut the crap Ino, and stop acting all polite and formal, as if we're strangers."

"But aren't –" She started but was cut off by Sasuke's growl as he pushed her up against the wall and pressed himself as closer to her as he could.

"There was never anything polite about you," His hand snaked down her side, curving around her waist until it rested on the curve of her pert behind. She made no move to stop him. "Never anything formal either as I recall."

"And there was never anything subtle about you." And this time Ino's voice was low and breathy, her eyes burning with a complex mix of emotions. Her hands went up to cup his face and she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him with the intensity of three years forced separation.

-------

The dark purple silk that had made up the blonde's outfit of that evening now lay haphazardly around the guest bedroom along with the Uchiha's discarded clothes. They lay abandoned where they had been dropped by thier owners, shed without a care like so many fallen leaves. The desperate need to feel skin on skin had driven the pair of them on. The overwhelming desire to feel what they had been forced to live without for three years was just too strong to ignore. He had taken her once up against the door, being able to wait until they reached the bed.

"So now what?" The Sand kunoichi mumbled hours later as she lay in a tangle of sheets her limbs entwined with those of the onyx eyed male.

"My pack, there's a scroll inside." Sasuke pushed a few strands of unbelievably fair hair out of her face before indicating with a tilt of his head that she should go and retrieve the item he was talking about.

"Open it." He said, when Ino finally held the small scroll in her hands. "Open it and read it."

"Sasuke this is…" The mind walker reread the words not sure if she had interpreted them correctly. "This is a transfer request…" Ino looked at the Sharingan master, her eyes never once leaving his face as she crawled back across the bed until she reached him.

"I know." He reached out and after pulling her to him pressed a soft, tender kiss to her lips. "If you can't, or rather won't, come back to The Leaf then the only way for us to be together is for me to stay in The Sand."

"Oh really Sasuke-kun," Her voice was mock stern which took away any heat her words might have held. "Abandoning your village for a second time. You never were one to learn from your mistakes were you."

"You're wrong Ino, I do learn. I lost you once and I won't let that happen again." And there in his eyes, just as it had been on that night three years past, she could suddenly see what it was staring back at her. It was love.

* * *

Lamb: I hate people who hold chapters to ransom, and I'll up date when the next one's done anyway. But I'm saying this because I'll probably never get the chance again. (clears throat) I would like to hit 200 reviews before I update again. (dances) Never thought I'd live to say that.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	26. Cat

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Sorry for taking so long, I meant to have it up much sooner but fanfic wouldn't let me upload anything. I think it's a conspiracy.

**Muse: **Paranoia, what fun. But thanks and strawberry laces to **Yoruichi 'Ino', **_Drunksonic, _**kiwi4m4,** _hakuisagirl,_ **shelvesinthecloset, **_AkemiYumikov3, _**SnowLion no Miko **and _shadowphoenix101,_ who all reviewed that last chapter.

_Dedi: _This chapter is dedicated to **Yoruichi 'Ino'**

Lamb: Also I would like to say a big thank you to my beta reader, hakuisagirl.

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_She cat walking on the wild side,  
She cat talking on the wild side,  
She don't smile, she don't look,  
She don't do laundry and she don't cook,  
She's not listening to what he says,  
She's not making any promises,_

* * *

**Cat**

It was stupid, Uchiha Sasuke reflected miserably. The whole thing was stupid and ridiculous and on top of that it was downright humiliating. Scowling at a group of sniggering young shinobi, causing them to immediately hide behind the nearest stall, he readjusted the enormous toy cat he was being forced to carry round the village.

It was a horrific light purple colour, with a massive silver ribbon tied round its neck and was well over three-foot tall. Laughter from the group just ahead of him had him glaring once more; not that it was doing any good since the blonde trio currently all had their backs to him. If he had his way, Sasuke decided as another cry of laughter rang in his ears, all blue eyed blondes would be strangled at birth.

Naruto was bounding down the street one arm slung around the shoulders of Temari the other around those of Ino. It had to be the most incongruous thing he had ever seen. Ever since the three had been put together on a mission, the three of them had been thick as thieves, or in Naruto's case just plain thick. Why they had to have a member from Suna on that mission the Uchiha didn't know. But whatever the reasoning behind it, the three of them together was his own personal version of hell. That dobe and those two… bitches was probably a little too strong but it was certainly how he was thinking about them just then.

It was at times like this that Sasuke found himself thinking that maybe, just maybe Orochimaru had been right. And that wiping Konoha from the face of the planet might have been the best idea he'd ever heard. But swiftly following this thought would come the hatred and self-loathing. He had betrayed his village and yet they had welcomed him back with open arms, and in some cases open beds, (that being Sakura. Ino now seeming more interested in making his life hell than trying to get into his bed… mores the pity) and to think even for a moment that the snake demon had been right…

Sasuke shook his head, getting a mouthful of purple fluff in the process; it was no good really. This damned place caught him coming and going. He couldn't think of the village's destruction because of how close he had come to being part of a plot to do that very deed. But on the other hand he couldn't think well of Konoha or the people in it, mostly because he wasn't going to give Ino and Naruto the satisfaction. Nothing seemed to give the blonde pair more fun than teasing him about how much he had missed the village during his absence. Though wounding his pride over anything seemed to be their main hobby these days and when Temari got in on the act too… Sasuke thought sometimes that his death might be preferable and knew that theirs would definitely be so.

He was not anti-social, he just didn't like going out, he didn't like most people, he didn't like festivals and he sure as hell didn't like carrying around a damned stupid toy cat. Ino's stupid cat at that. And that was another thing he had to thank the world's most brain dead ninja for. The girl had won the damn thing and only afterwards realized that it now had to be carried round by someone. Naruto had instantly volunteered Sasuke, who had said no, only to then have the three witches start cackling that he wasn't strong enough.

Pride severely wounded, the Uchiha survivor had done the only thing he could, he'd snatched up the offending toy and stalked off down the street, knowing fully that he'd fallen into the trap that had been set for him. Moments later he'd been caught up by the still madly laughing trio and the rest of the Rookie Nine most of whom were smiling in amusement. That was except for Sakura who had been yelling at Naruto and trying to get round Ino and Temari so she could hit him.

The pink haired girl had rapidly retreated in the face of the sand kunoichi's glare, much to the delight of a smirking and dancing Naruto. While Sakura might be willing to face Ino's wrath on a day to day basses, deliberately getting on the bad side of Temari was tantamount to suicide. Though personally Sasuke didn't think getting on Ino's bad side was much better. Then again maybe you developed immunity to it over time, Sakura having been on the mind walker's bad side for what seemed like forever. Personally Sasuke thought that of the two of them it would be more fun to be on Ino's bad side. But that thinking might have something to do with the kiss she had placed on his cheek before she had whispered her thanks in his ear.

It must have been the heat of the summer evening that made his skin feel as if was on fire where her lips had lightly brushed his flesh. The warmth of the day must also be the explanation of the slight flush that coloured his pale skin and why he was feeling a little light headed. He was not prepared to entertain the notion that he might in some way be attracted to the blonde female who had inflicted the oversized stuffed purple feline on him.

Whatever was going on, the last survivor of the once proud Uchiha clan thought that he must be on the bad side of someone important. It was the only explanation for the public humiliation he was currently undergoing. Maneuvering the fuzzy moggy in his arms once more, Sasuke made a silent promise that they were going to pay for the embarrassment they were causing him. They were all going to pay, Naruto, Temari, Ino and Ino's damned cat.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	27. Through the Fire

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, but I think the world was against me posting this, problems with computers and the internet. But here it is at last.

**Muse:** We'd like to say thank you to **WolfFlowerz,** _allie oops,_ **shelvesinthecloset,** _AkemiYumikov3,_ **Drunksonic,** _Yoruichi 'Ino',_ **kiwi4m4,** _shadowphoenix10,_ and **jin. toshikazu,** who all reviewed the last chapter. You each get one commemorative kunai.

_Dedi: _This drabble is dedicated to **shelvesinthecloset**

Lamb: Also I would like to say a big thank you to my beta reader, hakuisagirl.

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Only when I stop to think,  
About you, I know,  
Only when you stop to think,  
About me, do you know,  
I hate everything about you,  
Why do I love you,  
You hate everything about me,  
Why do you love me,_

* * *

**Through the Fire**

"GO!" She just had time to see her two team-mates taking off in opposite directions before her jutsu activated and turned her world to darkness.

There are certain plants, the seed cases of which will only germinate after being exposed to fire. Thick outer protection keeps them safe from the flames, meaning they can survive exposure to even the most intense temperatures. And it was a case like this, which had formed around one Yamanaka Ino, shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, just in time to protect her from the fire style jutsu that had been aimed at her and her two companions.

-------

"Go after them." His eyes didn't shift from the seed pod at the center of the rapidly cooling inferno. Not until after Suigetsu had departed did he turn his head so he could fix his unreadable scarlet gaze upon Karin. "I said go." She hesitated only a moment longer, inwardly shrinking away from the expression on his handsome face, before she leapt into the trees in pursuit of her target. Karin would not, could not, disobey a direct order from him, no matter what. If he had asked her to cut out her own beating heart and hand it to him then she would have willingly done so. But she did not want to leave him alone with the third member of the Konoha team. She had felt the chakra spike when their eyes had locked and sensed the imminent danger.

He could kill her with ease; the redhead believed in her heart that her beloved could annihilate anyone he wished to. There had been times when his anger had been turned upon her and she had feared for her life. But what caused the jealousy and envy that swirled in her gut was the fact that she didn't think her love wanted to kill the girl in question.

In the split second before the shinobi's jutsu had taken effect she had seen the girl brightly lit by the flames and instinctively hated what she saw. Kunoichi we supposed to be lithe and lean, all taut muscles and hard lines. Natural born killers. They were meant to look as if they had been built to fight not to fuck.

The blonde's body however had differed from the stereotype; her figure was fuller with a pleasing curve to both bust and hip. Her hair was long, far longer than was normally seen on female ninja and in a world of dark tones the pale silvery gold was all the more enticing. She put Karin in mind of the dancing girls she had seen working in certain bars. Cheap and common, something to be looked down upon. But she had also seen the way that the eyes of males looked at such girls.

The same way her Sasuke-kun had looked at the blonde Leaf Kunoichi.

-------

"Well if it isn't the scorned woman…" Uchiha Sasuke's voice was slow and lazy, belying the emotions that churned within him as he watched the mind walker step out of the crumbling remains of the over sized seed case that had protected her from the flames he had created. It would be best for him if he remained cool and off handed with her. The girl he remembered hated to be ignored, so it would not be wise to let his feelings get the better of him.

"Heaven knows no rage, like love to hatred turned. Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." Ino marveled at how calm her voice was. Over and over in her mind she had replayed this scene, where she would be the one to confront him, but never once had she dared to hope that she would feel so cool and in control.

Eyes, gleaming scarlet in the light from the dying ember, flicked over her body as she spoke. She was standing with her weight perfectly balanced, poised like a cat that watched a mouse hole. "But the truth is I never cared that you didn't want me, I'd always known that it would only be a matter of time before you turned you back on me completely. But to betray Konoha…"

"_Konoha!_" And his decision of a moment before was forgotten as the well-known black wave of jealousy crashed into his psyche, drowning the valleys of his mind in the surging sable tide. Spitting out words like so much venom as he launched himself at her and attacked. "It's always been the same with you hasn't it, Yamanaka!? Always putting your precious little village before everything else! Before everyone else!"

"As opposed to you, who always put yourself first?!" The mind walker screamed, even as she silently cursed and threw several shuriken at Sasuke. He easily avoided them. She knew she wouldn't be able to get her fingers to form the symbols she needed fast enough to be able to use any jutsu effectively against him.

"You know nothing about me, about what they put me through." His voice dissolved into a feral scream as he dived once more at the Leaf shinobi. Ino only just managed to avoid the contact. "You can never know what that wretched place took from me."

"Arrogant as ever I see." Ino mocked as she danced just out of the path of his attack. And it really was a dance, a dance on quicksand and the blonde knew she was living on borrowed time, for as much as she hated and despised Sasuke, she knew he was far more skilled than she could ever be. "I know far more than you think… far more than you probably did up until recently."

"You speak of Itachi?" Sasuke snarled and the light of confirmation in her eyes only made the resentment he felt double in intensity. The stream of flame he aimed at her missed her by less than a hair's breadth. Ino felt the heat sting her skin as she frantically tried to put more distance between them.

"You dedicated your life to bringing down the one person who sacrificed everything he ever loved, for you. He prevented the outbreak of war, so that you would not have to face the horrors that war would bring." Something akin to disgust clouded her tone and the contempt she felt shone clearly in her eyes. "And when you found out the truth you set out to destroy Konoha, the very place that your brother swore to protect!"

"Konoha, Konoha, Konoha!" He spat out the name as if the taste of it on his tongue made the bile rise in his throat. "It always comes back to Konoha with you. It's got you so blinded Yamanaka that you can't even seen beyond its borders."

"Why would I want to see beyond it? So that I could end up a traitor like you?" At the look on his face Ino wondered if maybe she had finally pushed him too far, but her mouth was running away with itself and she was powerless to stop it. "You turned your back on everything and everyone that ever cared for you. You almost killed your best friend, I don't know how many times. Then you joined up with an organization that wants to capture, torture, and kill that same best friend. You're beneath contempt Uchiha. I pity and despise you. And I'd rather die for my village right here and now, than live a life like yours."

"They died to protect Konoha. They sacrificed everything for Konoha. They live for Konoha." The Uchiha's voice was a mocking singsong tone that cut across Ino's mind like a knife across raw nerve. "But Konoha is nothing but a parasite that chews people up and then spits them out. It sucks you dry, and then casts you aside when you have nothing left to offer. It leaves nothing and takes everything."

There was something manic in his eyes, something beyond the normal anger and hatred that the Yamanaka had associated with this Sharingan user. It was wild and savage, almost hypnotic. His face was hard and something in the orbs that glittered like chips of bloody ice caused Ino's blood to run cold. And for a single moment she hesitated. And in that fateful instant Sasuke moved.

Ino gasped as all the air was knocked out of her body as she found herself being slammed back into the trunk of a tree, her head smacking painfully against the age hardened wood. She could feel the bark through her tight purple top and felt it scrap against the bare skin of her lower back. He had her trapped, caught like a caged rat between his body and the solid support of the tree.

The strange scent that could only be that of blood filled her nostrils. The heavy fabric of the Akatsuki cloak felt soft under her finger tips. How much blood had been spilled onto this cloak, Ino wondered. How much more was yet to be soaked up by this cloak? And would it now be her life's blood that was spilt onto those scarlet clouds?

"How funny," he drawled, his voice back to the smooth, controlled tone with which he had first addressed her. "The Akatsuki are hunting for a fox and I've just caught myself a vixen."

"Kill me then! Go on!" Her voice now was a vicious gasp and her head was swimming due to the impact with which it had struck the tree. "Get on with it."

"I'm not going to kill you Yamanaka." Sasuke gave her an admonishing look, indicating that she should know better than to try and second-guess him. Ino tensed when he brought one hand up to brush away the bangs that always fell into her icy blue eyes, the touch of his callused fingers seeming to sear where they brushed against her cheek."I'm going to burn your beloved little Konoha to the ground right before your pretty blue eyes."

As those same eyes widened in terrified understanding, a smile started to play around his mouth, which was a dangerous playground for so innocent an expression. "I'm going to watch you as you have to stand and watch the flames take everything that you've ever loved away from you."

"What are you talking about?" It was hatred that made her insides feel as if they were already engulfed by flame. It had to be hatred, because the possibility that it was anything else was one she would not entertain.

"Konoha, Konoha, Konoha." But now he recited the name in a dreamy fashion as if knew something which she had been ignorant of and was now deciding to tell her. "It was always first with you. But when the flames have taken it, you won't be able to deny it any longer Yamanaka. Through the fire you're going to see the only thing you have left…"

"What would that be?" Ino couldn't keep her voice from trembling as his thumb caressed the plump fullness of her lower lip. It was such a simple action, but in that setting it sent her heart racing partly from fear but also partly from excitement, as the feelings she thought long since buried fought their way to the surface.

"Me, my sweet Ino-chan." His lips were a hair's breadth from her own and there was nowhere for Ino to look except directly into those twin pools of gleaming scarlet. "I'm going to be the only thing that you have in the whole world. When the flames die, I will be your whole world."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	28. Under The Rain

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: My laptop has been hit by a virus so my access to the Internet is limited, hence why I haven't posted anything before now. Sorry.

**Muse:** Thanks to **Drunksonic,** _shelvesinthecloset,_ **WolfFlowerz,** _AkemiYumikov3,_ **kiwi4m4**, _and Yoruichi 'Ino_' (twice) you all get an umbrella.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Drunksonic**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_I listen to the rain, whispering your name,  
And hurricanes cloud my life again,  
The memory will fade,  
And time will turn the page,  
Our love was made,  
I dream of yesterday,  
The fantasy is mine,  
It's you I long to find,_

* * *

**Under the Rain**

Sasuke stalked along the road that lead away from Team Seven's favourite training ground, glaring down at the puddles that were forming on the surface that less than an hour ago had been dry and dusty. In his mind he cursed his sensei and team-mates. Kakashi for keeping them far longer than normal, Naruto for his appalling chakra control, the reason they had extended training and Sakura because if he was cursing the other two there was no reason why she should miss out.

Stupid clinging fan girl tendencies, speaking of which…

The Uchiha survivor let out a low groan as the sound of laughter, female laughter, up ahead caught his attention. Through the misted vale of the rain he could just make out a distorted silhouette in shades of dark purple and pale gold. _Brilliant_, he thought, he gets away from one of them just to be confronted by the other, and there was no rout he could take to avoid her. Brilliant, just brilliant.

If it wasn't Haruno Sakura then it was Yamanaka Ino. Heads they win, tails he loses.

Ignoring the way the rain was hitting the back of his neck and rolling down his back, Sasuke continued stomping along the road, slamming his feet into the ground as if it was that face of some hated enemy. His brother for preference. All the time his ears strained for that sound of the blondes' cry of delight at seeing him that would prelude her, in all likelihood, leaping on his back.

But none came, all that he heard was the soft splashing of the rain and her call of greeting, "Hello, Sasuke-kun."

She appeared beside him and he could not help but swiftly glance at her as he kept walking, sharp eyes taking in every detail of her appearance. Her skin was covered in a glimmering sheen of water, her outfit was sodden and clinging to her and her normally long cascade of blonde hair was matted into rat's tails.

"Hn, you're wet." He deadpanned in her general direction.

"Nope," She countered tossing him a bright smile and prancing a few steps ahead of him, her hands reaching up to catch the falling drops. "You're wet, I'm soaking."

The dark haired boy scowled deeply at her, which only caused her to laugh as if there was a joke that he had missed. It was something Sasuke deeply disliked. "What's the difference."

He had meant it as a throwaway question, something to indicate he thought she was being stupid and, well, blonde. What he hadn't expected was for her to tilt her head slightly, fix those impossibly big blue eyes intently on his and respond in a slightly wistful tone of voice, "I guess it depends on how you look at it."

They walked together in silence, Ino occasionally skipping ahead to jump like a kid into one of the many puddles or else shimmying through the rain as if she were dancing. Sasuke didn't know why he let her walk with him, not that there was much he could have done to stop her, he had to pass the Yamanaka flower shop to get home. And anyway when she wasn't talking or trying to jump on him the blonde wasn't that bad, less annoying than Sakura at any rate.

Though he wouldn't be surprised if she was slightly insane, he thought as he watch her spin in the middle of the road, her arms stretching up to the sky. Probably it was a side effect to repeatedly detaching her soul from her body.

"I love the rain." Sasuke started, wondering when she had returned to his side and why he hadn't noticed. Most of all he wondered why she should think he cared what she thought about the rain, but before he could ask, or more likely tell her to shut up, she was already telling him.

"When I was little my mother would tell me that when it rained it was the sun's way of washing away all the pain and problems it saw when it looked down. Kinda silly, I know, but I've always remembered it." The light in her eyes faded slightly and her expression turned sombre. "Sometimes I wonder if I stay out long enough if it could wash away my pain too. Cus there are some memories that I just don't want to remember, ya know."

Sasuke glance sideways at her as a soft sigh escaped her lips. He could see a deep lingering sadness in baby blue eyes that normally were so bright with life. And in that moment he felt a pang of sympathy for the blonde and more than that, was it empathy he wondered. Suddenly he was not looking at another fan girl, rabid and prepared to do anything to get his attention; instead she was just a girl soaked to the skin, water running through her sodden hair and eyes that reflected his own mixed emotions. And he decided that he liked that second side of her better, the side that was the real, essential Ino.

Her mother had died when she was young; he knew that, though it was something he often forgot. If he was honest he suspected that a grate many people forget about the loss one Yamanaka Ino has suffered. The blonde girl was always so upbeat and bubbly, it pissed him off no end most of the time, but perhaps underneath all that show of independence she was hurting in her own way. Was that the memory she was talking about washing away?

If so he could see the appeal of it. There were times when he would give anything to lessen the pain that he carried with him everyday. The only surviving Uchiha, the hope, the future, the avenger. Idly he wondered if the blonde kunoichi had predicted his reaction, had she told him because she thought he might understand?

"Goodbye Sasuke-kun." Looking up he saw her standing in the doorway of the shop her family owned, he'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed where they were. There was a strange half smile on her lips as she waved once at him before disappearing from his sight.

Not really knowing why, Sasuke returned her wave even though she was no longer there to see it, before turning and continuing on his way home. Only now he walked with his head up, letting the rain wash over his face, Ino's voice talking of washing away memorise echoing in his head.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	29. Drive

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Yeah I know I've kept you waiting, but by know you should know what I'm like when it comes to updating things. Speaking of which, I have just started a SasuIno multi chapter fic in case any of you want to check it out.

**Muse:** Why don't you just beg them to read it and be done with it? Anyway thank you to **WolfFlowerz,** _Drunksonic,_ **1010'jin,** _naruxinoxsasu.10,_ **AkemiYumikov3,** _shadowphoenix10,_ and **Yoruichi 'Ino',** you can each have… well I've run out of ideas so, help?

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **1010'jin**

Lamb: Also I would like to say a big thank you to my beta reader, hakuisagirl.

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Riding along in my automobile,  
My baby beside me at the wheel,  
I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile,  
My curiosity's running wild,  
Cruisin' and playin' the radio,  
With no particular place to go,_

* * *

**Drive**

Maybe she had been a bit too impulsive this time, the blonde seventeen-year-old thought as she stalked along the side of the road. But the pink haired bitch had just been getting to her too much and it had been a case of either leave, or stay and hit the girl, which would have probably resulted in Sakura's parents asking her to leave anyway. So either way she would have ended up walking the streets alone at midnight. But if she'd have been thinking clearly and not so blinded by her rage she would have gone to Hinata's or Temari's, rather than her own home, which was on the opposite side of town.

On the plus side, it was midsummer so the air was still fairly warm. This was a good thing, as she had been so enraged she just grabbed up her bag and marched out of the house without changing out of her pyjamas. The upshot of which was that she was prancing around the town in ridiculously short cream colour hot-pants and a light purple strap top that had been a bit on the tight side when she was fifteen. Over her left shoulder was slung the backpack that had all of her stuff in it, including the outfit she had been going to wear into town before Sakura had decided that she didn't want to go any more. Selfish cow.

Ino pressed the skip button on her iPod trying to find something that would help keep her in her bad mood. At least if she was angry then she was too busy to contemplate how stupid she was being for walking around at night, on her own, only party dressed. Though still nowhere near as stupid as Sakura, who looked set to throw away a lifetime's friendship over a boy. True he was the hottest guy in their school, and he was smart as well, but did it really matter if they both liked him? Whatever happened to Bro.'s before Hoe's? Or should that be sisters before misters? She couldn't recall off hand.

The stretch of road ahead of her was suddenly illuminated and instinctively Ino hugged the hedge that ran alongside the sidewalk as she waited for the car to pass her. The path ahead of her was being shown in ever-increasing detail as the car closed the space between them and the blonde found herself holding her breath as she silently counted waiting for the vehicle to come into view. It did, but rather than just speeding past her as the others had done, it drew to a stop, engine still running just a little ahead of her.

_Damn it!_ Ino cursed in the privacy of her skull, just what she needed, some creepy curb-crawler trying to pick her up. As she approached, her blue-eyes saw the passenger window roll smoothly down and reluctantly she hit the pause on her iPod. If worst came to the worst she could always hit the guy with her backpack and then leg it. She was wearing trainers and had made it onto the track team for a reason.

"Hey." The voice was deep and smooth with just a hint of a question in it. "Yamanaka, Ino right?"

"Uh, yeah." For a moment Ino was almost sure her eyes must have bulged unattractively out of her head like a startled goldfish. You fight with your friend over a guy and the next thing you know you are confronted by said guy. What're the chances? "And you're Uchiha Sasuke."

"Meh," The dark haired male gave a soft snort of mild disgust, there wasn't a person that went to Konoha High who didn't know who he was. "It's kinda late to be walking the streets alone isn't, especially half naked on a Saturday night."

"I wouldn't exactly call one thirty late, more like early." Ino said cocking one hip as she braced her weight on her other leg, her right hand, in which she held her iPod, going to rest on her waist while the other continued to grip the strap of her backpack.

"Whatever. Get in; I'll give you a ride." He rolled his eyes at the sceptical look on her face and her immobility. "Oh just get in already."

Their eyes locked and some sort of silent battle of wills seemed to take place, but the end result was the blonde sitting in the passenger seat.

"Fine, fine. I'm in." Ino pouted slightly as she dumped her bag down by her feet but then grinned as she sank happily into the seat. She sighed contentedly as they moved off; enjoying the smooth feel as the car ate up the road.

Sasuke chanced a sideways look at the girl that was already relaxing in his car before a little reluctantly returning his gaze to the road. He'd seen her before, normally wandering through the hallways or once or twice in one of his classes. Most of the time when he spotted her she was on the sports field or in the gym or in the pool. The girl worked out a lot, and was on both the track and swim teams, a fact he knew since some of his friends were on the male equivalent. But even if he hadn't have known it would have been easy enough to guess just by looking at her. She was all long limbs and hard muscles without any real curve to her figure. And yet there was still something oddly attractive about her.

It was a sweet ride Ino had to admit as she settled more comfortably into the seat, loving the sensation of the smooth leather upholstery against the bare skin of the backs of her thighs. She'd always found certain types of car a turn on, especially the fast sporty types. Cars when it came down to it that were just like this, not that she had the faintest idea what make it was. All she knew was that the sleekly built black machine was one of the sexiest things she'd ever laid eyes on; right up there along side its driver.

Her older half brother Deidara kept saying it was only a matter of time until she started dating boy racers. She just kept telling him that he was stupid, true the cars were amazing, but most of the guys that drove them were prats. Where as Sasuke on the other hand, 'Mr. I'm so cool even ice-cubes are jealous' was everything she'd ever fantasised about. He was what she fantasised about. Unable to resist any longer, she let her eyes fall shut as she revelled in the fact that she could feel the base from the sound system moving through the seat and into her body.

"So what are you doing out, all alone, at this time of night, dressed like that?" The Yamanaka cracked one eye open just in time to see the obsidian eyed male behind the wheel running those same eyes over her bare legs.

"Believe it or not I didn't intend to be walking the streets at this hour." Silence was the only response, but it was not the comfortable silence of before. This was an 'I'm going to just wait until you give in and tell me the rest' sort of silence. "Ok, so I was meant to be staying with a friend of mine, Haruno Sakura–"

"She's got pink hair right?" Sasuke wrinkled his nose in a way that could only be described as cute. "Two of my mates fancy the hell out of her, can't see the attraction myself."

" – anyway we ended up getting into a fight and me being me I just walked out in my Pj's not caring that it was well past midnight." She blew blonde bangs out of her face and smiled ruefully.

Sure here and now it sounded like a really stupid thing to do and no doubt her lazy assed Shika would denounce her for being troublesome when word got out. But at the time it had seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do or at least a very Yamanaka Ino sort of thing to do. And so she had done it.

"Nice and even better I didn't even have to buy you dinner to find out what you wear in bed." Ino made a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh, it was almost as if he was flirting with her but at seventeen she knew better than to read too much into the actions of any guy. "So what was this fight about?"

"Oh, just some guy." Again came the silence, the blonde had known people who would chatter at you until you just gave in and told them what they wanted to know, but Sasuke just listened at her. In a way it was worse. "Fine, there's this guy that I sorta like but the thing is, it turns out Billboard Brow is carrying a massive torch for him too. And when she found out that I like him she started this fight and well, I've never been the sort to back down from a challenge."

"That's stupid." Privately Ino agreed with him, she didn't want to lose her friendship with Sakura over something as trivial as a boy, even if that boy was Uchiha Sasuke. Hell, she didn't want to lose her friendship with the girl period. But the fact was fate didn't care what you wanted, just as it didn't care whether or not life was fair.

"Maybe, but that's life." Sasuke shot her a disbelieving look before flicking his eyes back to the road. "Sure I can see you don't believe me, but there's evidence all around. Just listen."

'A Knife Call Lust' by Hollywood Undead was playing on the stereo, which was on loud enough to be heard without preventing conversation. It was a song that Ino had liked since the first time she stumbled across it on the Internet and which she had then spent weeks trying to find somewhere to buy it from or somewhere to download it. A task that proved far harder than it really should have, but she'd got it in the end, after all she was Yamanaka Ino and had made a point of getting her own way whenever she could.

She smirked across at Sasuke before giving in to temptation and mouthed along with the words.

_Nostalgia hit and it's time to quit,  
And everybody acts,  
Like it don't mean shit.  
And your friend will stab you,  
Just to fuck some girl,  
Put your hands in the air and scream,  
Fuck the world!_

"Ok so you might have a point." Sasuke admitted grudgingly, after all like he said, two of his friends were gagging for the Haruno chick, and while it was true that they hadn't come to blows yet, there was every chance that they might. "But we're guys, you girls you're different."

"Yeah, most of the time we're more viscous." Her voice sounded almost bitter, and when he looked at her the dark haired male could see the scowl twisting her features. "Female of the species and all that… Kipling had a point you know."

The pair fell into silence once more, the only sound being that of the stereo. Ino's voice broke in as she gave directions, since the Uchiha had no idea where her house was situated. Which wasn't surprising, even considering that Deidara hung around in a group that included Sasuke's older brother. Not that they came round to her house that often anymore. Not since they had wolf whistled at her when she was sunbathing in her bikini and she had flipped them off and then denounced the lot of them as perverts. Yeah, after that Deidara hadn't brought his friends home much, though try as she might she couldn't fathom the reason why not.

"This guy… he wouldn't be blond by any chance, would he?" Sasuke broke the silence after about five minutes, changed gear, brushed his hand through his hair and then let his hand rest on the gear stick once more.

"Your mate?" Ino shook her head, but couldn't resist a smile. So much for Sakura's claims that the Uchiha was as good as hers, the girl really needed to lean when to stop boasting. "Sorry, he's not a blond. And before you ask, No, it's not Rock Lee either."

Again silence descended, and again it was Sasuke's 'I'm going to listen at you until you give in' sort of silence. But this time Ino was determined not to give in. If she had been a bitchy sort of person, well Ok she was bitchy but she wasn't spiteful, but if she had been she may have given up the emerald-eyed girl. She might well have told Sasuke that it was he himself that Forehead was lusting after. She could have done a brilliant character assassination job on her in the bargain, thereby ruining any chance Sakura might have had with him. She might have done all of that if she was spiteful, or if it hadn't have meant she would have been indirectly confessing her own feelings for him.

So as it was she just sat there matching Sasuke's 'I'm going to listen at you until you give in' silence with an 'I'm not going to say anything so you might as well give up' one of her own. For someone used to loud verbal battles this silent warfare was a whole new ball game, but as she had pointed out before, she wasn't the sort to back down from a challenge.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Sasuke knew he sounded sullen but he couldn't be bothered to try and hide the fact. The listening trick always worked on Naruto so why hadn't it worked against this loud mouthed blonde? Man life could be so unfair.

"Nope. Left here." She chirped grinning broadly, feeling far prouder of herself than she should have. Then again, to an athlete wining was everything. And anyone who spouted that whole 'it's the taking part that counts' load of crap could shove it where the sun didn't shine for all she cared. If you came in second that just made you the first loser.

"No reason why you should…" He said it half to himself, half to her as he gazed intently through the windscreen for some indication of where the girl lived. "Where are you?"

"Just drop me here." Ino said, already undoing her belt. She looked up when she felt Sasuke's curious gaze on her. "Older brother. Sure you know he wouldn't care if I brought a different guy home every night. But he'll jump on anything if it'll give him an excuse to pry into my private life."

"Hn, I know the feeling." He nodded as he pulled up to the curb and watched the leggy blonde hop out. Itachi, his older brother, was always poking his nose where it wasn't wanted i.e. inside his baby brother's personal space.

"Thanks for the lift." Ino bent her head and smiled at him through the open window, the soft summer wind blowing her bangs into her face even as she reached up to brush them away.

"Not a problem." Sasuke waved off her thanks, but instinctively called out to her before she had taken more than a couple of steps. "Hey Yamanaka, if that guy you like isn't into you then he's real stupid."

"Oh I don't know." She gave him a half-hearted shrug and bright grin, which caused dimples to form in her cheeks, before turning and starting to walk off. "I wouldn't have said you were that thick."

-------

Ino was half way down her road when the black car pulled up alongside her for the second time that hour. There was a soft click as the door was opened from the inside and pushed as far open as the driver could manage. Sasuke looked up at the smiling blonde who nodded slightly at his silent invitation, dropped her bag into the foot well and then, without a word, climbed in after it.

"You're right," He said eventually, as the car truned out of the road. "I'm not thick."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	30. All That I Have

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

* * *

Lamb: Well not so long a wait this time… at least I don't think it is but then again my sense of time has never been all that good. Also please check out the new poll on my profile page.

**Muse:** No kidding, she hopeless with time keeping. But we give thanks to **WolfFlowerz,** _via-loves-Tyson,_ **Yoruichi 'Ino',** _1010'jin,_ **sasukexino,** _kiwi4m4,_ **TheFinalCountdown,** and _shadowphoenix10,_ who all reviewed the last update.

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **via-loves-Tyson**

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_In your heart I can still hear,  
A beat for every time you kiss me,  
And when we're apart,  
I know how much you miss me,  
I can feel your love for me in your heart,  
And there ain't no way I'm lettin' you go now,  
And there ain't now way and there ain't no how,  
I'll never see that day...._

* * *

**All That I Have**

The clearing was bathed in soft moonlight, the tall trees casting long dark shadows that criss-crossed a world painted in monochrome. Half-sitting, half-crouching on the ground, dirt and blood smearing her skin and clothing, she pushed strands of light blonde hair out of her face. Her breath came in short harsh gasps as she stared at the carnage that surrounded her.

The bodies of two, clearly dead, sound-nin were lying away to her right, their blood seeping into the carpet of fallen leaves and pin needles. A little ahead and more to her left lay the body of the third, his head almost completely severed from his body and one leg twisted out at an unnatural angle.

Then her eyes drifted to where the corpse of the fourth ninja lay. The one she had not seen coming, the one who had lain in wait while she fought and killed his companions, the one who would have taken her life had it not been for _his_ intervention. His kunai protrude for the dead nin's neck, and she needed none of her medical training to know that they blade had severed the jugular vein, the only question was why?

Pale blue eyes travelled across the forest floor until her gaze found the spot where he was standing, and slowly raised her head until she could look into his cold, indifferent face. The years had been good to him, she thought as she carefully got to her feet; she had used more of her chakra that she would have liked.

Only once did her eyes drop from his face, focusing instead on the carefully crafted china mask, with its painted feline face, that lay on the ground between them. The white porcelain, with features traced in pale gold seeming to glow in the fading light, lay cracked into three fragments. Then her eyes were once more drawn to him, as she took in every detail of him, reacquainting herself with a face she had not seen in many years.

He looked like a sword of moonlight made human standing in the eerie quiet of the night time forest, hair the impossible blue black colour grown too long, locks straying at the nape of his neck and cheeks. A soft shock fell into his eyes, which glittered the dark burning red that many had come to know and fear. As if a sculptor had crafted the moonlight, each plane of his face severely angled and starkly perfect. His cheekbones and jaw line were as smooth as the slashes of a knife. His nose, chin, forehead, were shaped by centuries of aristocratic breeding to slope into the same elegant curves as an ornament they commissioned would have been expected to.

His skin was the same colour as marble, which was oddly fitting for the sharply defined lines that made his throat and chest and arms. It was a beauty that seemed designed, like a statue, a celebration of strength in a form that looked fragile as the stem of a rare flower. The crafted hollow at the base of his long throat, the sleek fan of his collarbone and the rounded rise of his shoulders looked far too carefully created to be anything but impossibly delicate.

All this she noted in a moment and felt the light flush that stained her cheeks burn as his eyes drifted over every contour of her lithe form. The tight black fitting ANBU uniform left little to the imagination, and his gaze was like a naked flame travelling over her body. She had thought that over time that her feelings for him, the stupid adolescent crush, would have faded, but with just a single glance he had everything she'd once felt rushing back.

Shaking her head, as if to clear it, the young blonde tried to collect her thoughts. He was her enemy, a ninja from the sound, a traitor to her own beloved Konoha. He had turned his back on everyone who had ever loved and supported him, reworded their loyalty with betrayal all for the sake of power and revenge. She should feeling nothing for him except hatred and contempt, as he obviously felt for her village and all that came from it. And yet…

It felt to her that with that Sharingan he was almost looking directly into her soul, and wished he would disengage it for under his watchful eye she felt naked and exposed. A billion questions were flooding her mind, each spawning new quires until they whirled in a chaotic storm with her mind.

He had undoubtedly saved her life, but why?

Slaughtering one of his own to keep her alive. But again the question was why?

His motives were far beyond her understanding, had he simply stepped in so that he could kill her himself?

One of the first lessons that they had been taught at the academy was that to be a true ninja you had to learn to keep your emotions under control. It was a lesson she had never been able master, not that it had really ever held her back. On the contrary in fact, since it was her ability to pour her feeling into the task at hand that had given her the edge to make it into Black Ops. She didn't get upset; she got angry and used that rage to fuel her motivation.

But now all there was, was confusion, wonderment and fear. Even if he should attack her now in this very moment she doubted she would be able to find it in her heart to defend herself, never mind going on the offensive. And it was that realisation that froze the very blood in her veins, that almost six years on, even after all the hard work and training, she could still find herself stopped by a single look from him.

The sky was dark, storm clouds heavy with the promise of rain rolled back and forth across the milk glass moon casting a moving pattern of shadows on the pair that stood frozen like statues. The air was thick with the combined scents of earth and blood and the smell you got before a summer storm, when the world was still baked dry but was waiting with batted breath for the down pour. Only a handful of stars were visible behind the swirling wisps of grey cloud, theirs the only movement in a world that seemed frozen in time.

It could have been moments or hours that they stood there, neither moving nor speaking while the tight ball of emotion wound its self ever tighter in her chest. If he was going to kill her, why didn't he just get it over with? But if he wasn't then what was he going to do? Fearful though she was, the not knowing was driving her mad.

"Sasuke-kun," Her voice was dry and husky as if she had almost forgotten how to use it. "Why?"

As if her words had broken a spell that had been cast upon the moonlit scene, like a statue springing to life he moved suddenly. Faster than her eye could see, in a fraction of a second he had crossed the distance between them and was now so close to her that his warm breath was like a feather light touch on the skin of her cheek.

"Because, Ino-chan. Because." Slowly he reached out and brushed away the hairs that fell into her baby blue orbs and at last let the pulsating red fade from his own eyes, leaving them the dark inky black she knew so well.

_Because_, a single word that could encompass so much. That could say everything and nothing. Because he had waited for her, known in the instant of separation what he wanted, the long moments that moved past them. In his precise and patient waiting, the heated waiting of the hunter. Finally for this was what she was to him, this woman; the essence of all things elemental and enduring.

She knew his intention, even as his hand slid across her cheek and round to cup the back of her head, felt the frantic beating of her heart, like some wild bird trapped within the confines of her ribcage and knew she wasn't afraid. Self-assured and confident, his mouth slanted down over hers and she knew that there was no way she could deny that this was what she wanted, had always wanted.

She moved into the waiting circle of his arms, lightly touching, felt the heat of him enter her like water, move through her like wine. Part of her knew this was no ordinary coupling, knew as soon as his rhythm immediately matched, mirrored, found her own. They kissed like liquid contained in a single glass, merging, swaying, hearts soaring.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	31. Smile

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Take me back to the house in the backyard tree,  
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me,  
You never did, you never did,  
Take me back when our world was one block wide,  
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried,  
Just two kids, you and I...  
Oh my my my my,_

* * *

**Smile**

There had been a time once when Yamanaka Ino would have swiftly wiped away the tear before anyone could see it roll its lonely way over the smooth skin of her cheek. But now there was no need, as the tears had long since ceased to fall. It was now a mask that she wore the bight, warm smile that no one ever got the chance to look past.

It was almost as if the mask had somehow become the real person, and the part of herself that Ino kept locked away was the illusion. How long had it been? It was hard to remember sometimes. People said that she had grown a little distant for a while after Uchiha Sasuke betrayed the village, but that within weeks she had returned to the bight and happy Ino that they all know. But the blonde knew that they were wrong, she hadn't grown 'a little distant' she had just been careless and her mask had slipped just a fraction.

She'd already been distant for years; it was just that she was so good at not showing it. She had been what, Ino thought, maybe eight at the time when her whole world seemed to change. Friends she had thought she would have forever suddenly wanted nothing to with her and it didn't matter how hard she tired nothing seemed to make things better. In her mind Ino could see it all, recall ever horrid, painful detail.

The girl throwing their friendship back in her face, while Ino's pleas fell on deaf ears.

The boy turning his back on her and walking away, his bright smile lost forever.

She was so lost in thought that she had completely tuned out the conversation of the two other leaf kunoichi that she was sitting with. It wasn't until Hinata gently laid a hand on her arm that Ino realised that the last question had been directed at her. Trying to drag her mind out of the past and into the present she forced her light blue eyes to focus on the rather irritated face of the pink haired medic seated opposite her.

"I said, what about you Ino, what d'you miss most?" And then because Sakura was still Sakura and would never fully be able to change added, "If you miss _my_ Sasuke-kun at all."

"I miss his smile." The blonde said quietly, not really thinking about what she was saying, her eyes hazy as she stared deep into the past.

"But Ino-chan…" Hinata paused not really sure if she should say what she thought while Sakura just rolled her eyes in disgust. "Sasuke-san did not ever smile."

"Oh." It wasn't really a word just a soft sound as her breath escaped through slightly parted lips.

"Gee Piggy! You _claim_ to love him and yet you know nothing at all about him." Sakura scoffed, and derision coloured her tone. "It's no wonder that you never stood a chance with him and when he comes back we all know it will be for me and not you."

Hinata winced slightly; it was in her nature to feel the pain of those she was close to. But she needn't have worried; the cherry blossom's words rolled over Ino like water off of a ducks back. Her friend could say whatever she liked, it didn't really matter, she missed Sasuke's smile and it didn't matter what anyone else thought, he had smiled… once.

Though now it seemed like a lifetime ago, and perhaps it was. She was eighteen now which meant it had been over ten years since she had last seen the smile that warmed her to her very core when it was directed at her. Ino sighed softly as she stared back across the years, into a world of distant memories that she kept like faded photos pressed between the pages of her mind.

Sakura and Hinata were once again deep in conversation; or rather Sakura was talking at the opal-eyed heiress while she listened with polite interest.

The noise of the busy square faded into the background until all Ino could hear was a faint hum, like the buzz made by the lazy bumble bees as the winged to and fro through the warm summer afternoons of her childhood. Back then her whole world seemed to fit in her back garden, or Sasuke's. Back when most of her life was spent inside the Uchiha's tree house, the wooden structure filled with dappled green and golden light as the sunlight filtered through the leaves.

Even back then she hadn't really been sure if he really wanted her around. As her lazy Shika would say in years to come, Sasuke was always telling her that she was too much trouble and that she was too bossy and too happy, all the time.

"Yamanaka! You're just too… everything!" His petulant eight-year-old voice yelled at her from across the years.

Time and again he threatened to beat her up if she didn't just settle down and do what he told her to… but he never did. They had not long entered the academy and would train for hours together, but even so he would take care never to hurt her.

Then had come the day they were messing around, or rather Ino was, slowly and surly driving Sasuke to distraction while he tried in vain to mater the signs for the jutsu he was learning. Yells and screams of rage had done nothing to stop the blonde from bouncing around him and in a last ditch effort to control her he tackled the still laughing girl to the ground. She had to squint up at him, back lit as he was by the sun, and was shocked to realise just how close to her he was. Suddenly teasing him about how he secretly wanted to kiss her didn't seem quite as funny as it had.

Ino had squeaked and bolted like a frightened rabbit when he leaned in to do just what she'd teased him about. Reaching the garden gate she had turned and looked back at his face, his dark eyes dancing and a warm smile tugging at his mouth. She had stuck out her tongue childishly before bounding away, blissfully unaware that that was the last time she would ever see that smile for that night the whole world as she knew it changed forever.

Later she would wonder what might have happened if she had let Sasuke kiss her. Probably nothing, Ino nearly always concluded. But sometimes, in her more fanciful moments she couldn't help but think that if Sasuke had known how much she really cared for him, if she had shown him, then he might have turned to her for comfort rather than simply retreating into his own head.

With a small shiver Ino pulled herself out of a past of cold shoulders and even colder hearts, a world that was tinted crimson with blood and looked up to see Sakura still chatting away. But Hinata was looking at her, concern causing the girl's brow to furrow.

The blue-eyed mind walker offered the indigo haired kunoichi a reassuring smile before murmuring something about having errands to run and rising from her seat quickly walked away. It was a lie, she had nothing to do but Ino thought that if she stayed a moment longer then her carefully constructed mask would finally start to crack.

"I wish she would smile like she used to." Hinata said, her voice trailing off into a sorrowful sigh as she watched the departing figure until she was swallowed by the crowed.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura snapped, rolling her eyes in evident irritation. "It's piggy, she's always smiling."

The Hyuuga heiress just shook her head, depressed, if not really surprised, by how ignorant the Godaime Hokage's apprentice was about the mind walker. Sakura seemed to posses a blind spot when it came to the blonde haired girl, who at one time she had called her best friend. Hinata could think of many reasons as to why that could be, but in her heart she knew it was because of how Sakura felt for the long departed Uchiha and the fact that she viewed Ino as a threat.

But if the cherry blossom just once bothered to open her eyes then she would see what Hinata saw, that Ino never really smiled any more. Not like she used to when her grins would light up the room, now all her smiles held a forced, false quality and Hinata hated it.

She could pretend as much as she wanted that everything was all right, but the Byakugan user knew better. Yamanaka Ino hadn't really smiled in ten long and lonely years, not since the night when the world that she knew had been ripped out from under her.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	32. Innocence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_It's been three years one night apart,  
But in that night you tore my heart,  
If only you had slept alone,  
If those seeds had not been sown,  
Oh you could come home and you would know that,  
All you want is right here in this room,_

* * *

**Innocence**

She could feel the sobs rising within her, each one sending a tremble rippling through her body as she hugged her knees closer to her chest. It was always worse at this time of year; the hollow in her heart seemed to grow, sending splinters of ice floating into her blood stream and his image dancing in her head. All of it intensified until it almost seemed the indescribable pain would rip her apart.

It had been a stupid, impulsive thing to do and at twelve she had still been too young really. But in these troubled times children had to grow up quickly and those who were training to become Ninja even more so. Childhood was all too brief and not something to be tossed aside lightly, which was just what she had done in that one heated moment when her heart over ruled her head and her last traces of innocence was forever lost.

The first glistening tears slowly rolled their way down her cheek, just as they had done on that morning three years ago when she awoke to find him gone. Leaving only a cold empty space in the bed next to her and a note promising that he would one-day return, return to her. Like a child bereft of all comfort she had buried her face in the pillow, smelling faintly of his cinnamon scent, and sobbed her heart out.

In her heart of hearts she had always hoped that when the time came he would be her first, she had just never expected it to happen so soon. Just as she had not imagined that one simple act could cause so much pain. It wasn't that she regretted what they had shared, far from it in fact, the memory of his face softened by feeling and the sound of her name on his lips was one that she would forever keep in her heart.

A half-strangled sob wrenched its self from her lips as she roughly pushed blonde strands from her face. No, she didn't regret a thing, it was just at times she that felt it would have made it easier if they hadn't spent his last night together. Somehow knowing he cared made the loss so much harder to deal with. And each and every time her mind strayed to him, which it often did, the sensation of her heart cracking in two was more pronounced.

Red rimmed and puffy, light blue eyes stared unseeingly into the middle distance, pale orbs looking deep into the past. And looking back she scolds herself that she should have known what was going to happen, the unexpectedness of his actions had fore shadowed something but she had been too blind to see. Or then again maybe she hadn't, maybe it was simply that she no longer cared.

Her father had been away on a mission, leaving her alone in the apartment above Yamanaka flower shop. Curiously she had opened the door to his knock, confusion filling her at seeing him there but she had barely opened her mouth to question him as to why he was there before he was kissing her. And in that moment she clearly saw his reason for coming and knew there was no way for her to fight it even if she had wanted to.

She could tell just by looking at him that he had been in one hell of a fight, only later would she lean that it had been with Orochimaru's lackeys, the Sound Four, one of whom would die at her team-mate's hands. Bruises covered pale skin and he visibly winced when her hands ran over a particularly tender spot on his ribcage. But rather than shy away from it he arched into it, dragging her closer almost as if he could not get enough of the taste and feel of her.

Even from the start, with that first kiss, his actions could hardly have been called gentle and by the end they were almost bordering on violent. But she had matched his ferocity, matched and exceeded it. Something in the back of her mind, something that wasn't clouded by what he made her feel, told her that this was their only chance. It told her to ride the fire as long as she could, to make the most of what she had and to leave her mark on him so that he would never be able to forget her even if he wanted to.

Afterwards she had lain shaken and breathless, and he had pulled her to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her and mumbled loving nonsense into her hair until long after she slipped into sleep. Then in the cool grey of morning she had woken to an empty bed and her heart shattering like a broken mirror.

Always at this time of year the pain of memory was greater, and she could not help but wonder if he too was thinking of her. Did he care? Did he even remember? The pessimist in her said he didn't that he never really had. But some other part of her recalled the expression on his face when he had looked at down at her, his hand so gentle as he brushed silver blonde hair from her eyes.

The voice reminded her of the soft, feather light, kiss he had pressed to her temple, his eyes so warm and yet so sad and told her that there was no way he couldn't care.

She hoped that the second half of her was right, for she cared more deeply then she would like to admit. She would always care, for he was her first, her last, her everything.

* * *

(A/N) The way I see it, if they're old enough to get paid to kill people they're old enough to decide if they want to have sex or not. So no bugging me about the age thing please.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	33. Advertisement

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

_Dedi:_ This is dedicated to **1010'jin**

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Sign your name,  
Across my heart,  
I want you to be my baby,  
Sign your name,  
Across my heart,  
I want you to be my lady,_

* * *

**Advertisement**

Uchiha Sasuke was by nature a very privet person. What went on in his life was nobody's business but his and if people didn't like that they could go hang for all he cared. If he wanted help with something he was perfectly capable of asking for it and was in no need of pushy people trying to stick their noses into his affairs. Who he chose to spend his privet time with, or not as the case may be, was only the concern of himself and the others involved.

If people were like books, Sasuke was not only written in code, in invisible ink no less, but was also on that was heavily padlocked and kept in a sealed room too, the location of which was unknown to most of the population.

So why was it that he never missed up on a chance to advertise his relationship with Yamanaka Ino? When the pair would been seen walking down the street his arm would be wrapped securely around her waist leaving no one in any doubt of the connection between the two of them.

No brother/sister feeling there.

When they were out with their friends, normally other members of the Konoha Twelve, he always took care to know where the blonde kunoichi was at any given moment. They would sit together, which would frequently culminate in Ino sitting in his lap while she happily chatted away to Temari or Hinata.

Displays of affection were common place. A whispered endearment here or a brief teasing kiss there. Friends had long since ceased to comment, knowing that it would have little or no effect except more often than not to spur him on to grater excess.

Any guy who happened to stray too close to the blue eyed blonde would quickly rethink his action when dark onyx eyes would flicker possessively in her direction. Though it had to be said that these days these occurrences were getting fewer and further between. As it would take someone either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to cross the Sharingan possessor.

But the fact remained that no one could understand why in this one particular area, the normally resurveyed and self-contained male let people see so much. They couldn't see why he insisted on putting on such a show as far as his relationship was concerned.

In a desperate attempt to find out what it was that prompted such action in the normally almost reclusive male they asked the one person who knew him inside and out.

The blonde kunoichi would smile softly when probed for information; delicate eyebrows would arch in amusement while she chuckled to herself. She would tilt her head to the side and say that yes of course she knew why Sasuke acted the way he did, and if they too wanted to know then they just had to do what she did.

Eagerly they would lean in closer, not wishing to miss a single word of her revelation. The secret that would give them the answers that they had been so long searching for. Like poor innocent little lambs to the slaughter she would think with wry amusement. Blue eyes would sparkle with glee at her captive audience as she happily told them all they needed to do was ask the Uchiha himself, and she would grin at the collective groan of disappointment.

Because Sasuke always refused to be drawn on the subject. His answer to the enquiries, if be bothered to respond at all, was normally some variation on a clipped _it's none of your damn business._

What it came down to was the fact that Yamanaka Ino was his girl and no one else's, end of story. And though he disliked people knowing too much about his life, he didn't want to leave anyone in doubt just who Konoha's golden flower belonged with. There were after all, Sasuke had to admit, times when it really did pay to advertise.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	34. Can You Hear Me?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **Yoruichi 'Ino'**

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_How many times do I have to try to tell you,  
That I'm sorry for the things I've done,  
But when I start to try to tell you,  
That's when you have to tell me,  
Hey this kind of trouble's only just begun.  
I tell myself too many times,  
Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut,  
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words,  
That keep on falling from your mouth,_

* * *

**Can You Hear Me?**

He was furious and terrified. And the fear that churned in his gut only served to make him angrier still. Blond hair flew wildly around his head, the singel ponytail streaming out behind him as he stormed through the hustle and bustle of Konoha. At his sides, his hands constantly clenched and unclenched a silent promise that before the day was out he would slam his fist into the fact of a certain shinobi. Or maybe even ring his neck.

Yamanaka Inoichi moved swiftly through the streets, unaware of how people were removing them selves from his path, so evident was his wrath. His long legs ate up the ground and sooner than he knew he was standing in front of the house his daughter had been calling home for the past three years. Not faltering the master of the Shintenshin no Jutsu stormed up to the house and started pounding on the door. At this time of day Ino would be at the hospital but that was all to the good as the person he was after was in fact the dark haired male who opened the door.

"Inoichi-san." His tone was politely formal, but also somewhat resigned as if he had anticipated such a meeting. Which, the blond thought with irritation, as he stalked seething into the entrance hall he probably had. Uchiha Sasuke always seemed, not only to be at least three moves ahead of everyone else, but also already to know the outcome of the entire game.

"I knew from the start that you were rash and arrogant but how can you be so stupid!" The blue eyed male was not in the mood to bother with trifles like civility and manors. The instant he had heard the news he had sworn that heads would roll and that of the Uchiha would be the first to go.

"With respect, this is not something that concerns you." Sasuke's stance was relaxed, his whole body loose and free of tension, as if he were conversing with a trusted friend rather than his enraged father by marriage. "This in a privet matter between Ino and myself."

"You insolent little whelp!" Inoichi bellowed and his hands jumped convulsively longing to simply lash out and knock the Uchiha down. "How dare you tell me that this is none of my business! Whatever affects _my_ daughter affects me."

"True, but that does not change the fact that this is something between _my_ wife and I." Sasuke only put slight effaces on the word, but he could see the reaction his subtle reminder had on the man standing not three feet from him.

"Your wife." The blue eyed male mocked, his mouth twisting into a sneer of disgust. "She'd nothing more than a brood mare in your eyes, you're so desperate to rebuild your clan that you –"

"Enough." He didn't shout or bellow, didn't so much as raise his voice, but for a fleeting instant his eyes flashed scarlet and the deadly harmonics in his tone halted the other man mid flow. "I understand that this is something that is hard for you to accept Inoichi-san but you will do me the courtesy of not flinging unfounded accusations around while in my house."

"Unfounded, really. When everyone knows that to raise the next generation of the Uchiha clan is the one goal you have yet to fulfill." Disdain dripped from his every word almost as if he were trying to goad the younger male into some form of rash action, but he remained just as placid as ever.

"It was originally my intention, that is true." A sad smile seemed to dance at the edge of his mouth for a moment before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. "But that was a goal I put aside the day I decided to take a kunoichi, to take Ino, as my bride. I told her, swore to her in fact, that day in front of half of Konoha, in front of not one but two Kage and in front of you that she was all the family that I desired. And that is something that has not changed."

"But still you continue on this path?" His voice was incredulous, blue eyes searching the young man for any sign that his was lying. There was none. "Don't you have any idea of the risks involved!? How much at risk this will put her at!?"

"I'm well aware of how dangerous this will be Inoichi-san." Accepting, he sounded accepting. As if he had weighed up all his options, worked out the odds and had somehow managed to come to terms with what the end result might very well be.

"And yet you continue in this madness." His voice was shaking with the strength of his feeling the words snarled out from between his tightly clenched teeth. "This could kill her!"

"Don't you think I know that!?" And for the first time since the start of the conversation Sasuke's voice lost its calm, controlled quality and instead took on almost hysterical note.

"Then why?" He was pleading now, Inoichi knew he was but simply did not care, the life of his baby was at stake and he wanted, no he needed to know why. "Why do you not stop her?"

"She wants a child." He sounded so defeated in that moment that Inoichi felt all his anger at the Uchiha suddenly drain away like so much rain water.

In that instant it dawned on the blond that while it was true that Sasuke was one of the greatest ninja that The Leaf had ever seen he was also just a very young man trying to do the best he could. But looking at him now it was easy to that the dark haired male was almost completely emotionally broken. As hard to take as this was for him, Ino's father, it was just as back for him, her husband.

"And you don't care if you lose her." His forehead furrowed in evident confusion as he tried to understand what it was that was motivating the actions of the one man, save for himself, that Ino had ever found it in her heart to be able to love.

"It would brake my heart." His voice had returned to its previous smooth, tranquil tone, but the anguish was etched clearly on every line of his pale face.

"Then for the love of heaven why? If you said no she would listen to you." Part of the Yamanaka, the part that was a father hated to admit that someone other than he held sway over the heart of his baby. "If you love her why do you not stop her?"

"Because," Sasuke sighed softly and turned away from the head of the Yamanaka clan, indicating that the conversation was over. "I would rather brake my own heart a thousand times over than have to bare witness to hers braking just once."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	35. Seeing Red

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

_Dedi:_ This is dedicated to **Drunkie**

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_The lights go out all around me,  
One last candle to keep out the night,  
And then the darkness surrounds me,  
I know I'm alive but I feel like I've died,  
And all that's left is to accept that it's over,  
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made,  
I try to keep warm but I just grow colder,  
I feel like I'm slipping away,_

* * *

**Seeing Red**

She was small, but not skinny – lean, lithe, wiry… and, though still unmistakably only just out of childhood, already battle-hard. Her pale creamy complexion and fair sliver gold locks gave her the look of some strange exotic doll. Ice blue eyes were wide and large, and she might have been referred to as doe-eyed if there had not been something lethal glinting in their depths. Something almost predatory in the way those orbs took in whole scenes and missed no detail.

But he could also see the hopelessness in those frosted depths; she knew very well what her future would hold and knew too that there was no way for her to escape it. She struggled and squirmed, but could not free herself for the two ninja that held her secured in their grasp. Their hold was such that it would doubtless leave bruises on her pale skin, but it was a necessary evil.

Her eyes darted to and fro seeking for anything to lock onto anything that would hold her gaze so that she would not risk glancing up at the dark haired male clad in a black cloak with a familiar red cloud design. She tried so hard to keep her eyes averted from him as he slowly closed the distance between them, but there was something almost magnetic about him. And seemingly against her will she found her self raising her head.

In that instant terrified blue locked with pulsing crimson and Yamanaka Ino felt herself being pulled backwards into the dark world of the Tsukuyomi.

-------

No thank you, not today. Five little words, but they race round and round inside my head. Banging off the side of my skull until my whole mind is throbbing with the tormenting message. No thank you, not today. No not toady, I don't want to be that girl, not today. I just want to be by me, but who am I? I don't think I know any more.

Confusion fills me, blocking out every other thought until there is only one voice that I can hear, screaming over all the others; run. And so I do, slowly at first. Sneaking through doors and creeping down hallways.

Like a labyrinth. So many coroners turned only to be faced with dead ends. Running in circles only to end up back where I started. And then into a long corridor, all closed in with nowhere to really go. Forward or back, but no where to turn. No possible chance of escape. On and on, all that is left to do is keep going. Keep running, for it will only be a matter of time before I'm caught once more.

Pretty little rat in a trap, how is life in your gilded cage?

My feet seem to gain wings then, and I am running as I had never run before. So fast it is hard to breath, but I can't stop I mustn't stop. And my feet are pounding in time to my heart, which is racing in my chest. Beating like a wild bird trying to escape its cage. Cages there are always cages.

On, and on. Give it you all and then they push you for more. Demanding that you surrender all that you have; blood, sweat and tears. Heart, body and soul. Lungs bursting and muscles burning. My whole body was screaming with the need to run; got to run.

Frightened little girl, what are you running from? What are you running to?

Who are you running to? The same one that you are running from of course. Round and round in circles, no start, no finish, always running.

Always running.

Always running.

But don't worry, don't panic, soon he'll catch you. Or is it that you will catch him?

Good little killer. Don't think, don't question, answers are not for you. Follow the orders because they are your orders. Mindless child, cut out your heart and throw it aside. Less painful that way. Forget you cared, you never cared, and you can never care. No one ever cared about you.

And yet I can feel the eyes on me, moving over my skin in an almost loving caress.

The sky is dark over head. Not with the dark of night but with the faded washed out darkness of a world that has been dead for centuries. Blood red clouds drift through the empty space while behind them evil looking stars wink and glitter ominously in shades that defy reality. Jade green. Sapphire blue. Amethyst purple. Amber orange. Air like liquid fire clogs in my lungs.

The burning stone underfoot gives way to something smooth as glass. Bright and shinning, but oh so slippery. Oh so traitorous. But there are white spots flashing before my eyes and I don't think I can go on much longer. Stumbling, falling, hands grasp wildly at empty air and then grasp on cold, hard steal. The thick chains are reassuringly firm under my hands and I pull myself up.

I think of manacles, cold and heavy. Binding me to a life that is no longer my own. I can see them winding tightly about me, tightening around my wrists and ankles until I can almost feel them bight into the flesh. They constrict around my throat until all the world around me it tilting and swinging.

Swinging. I think of swings.

Childhood should just be about swings. Who can go the highest, who can jump off without hurting themselves. Childhood should be swings, but I don't know where mine went. Too young to be grown up, but too grown up to be young.

No thank you not today. I don't want it today, today I want swings.

-------

Her body instantly went limp and she would have slumped to the floor if her two captors had loosened their hold. She would be out of it for days at least but probably closer to a week unless he chose to rouse her sooner.

"I think we'd better get going?" Though formed as a statement there was no denying that fact that the red haired kunoichi's words were a question. There would only ever been one leader in their team.

He nodded his head once his eyes never moving from the fallen blonde. "She comes with us."

"But –" The redhead got no further than the first word before the blood red eyes of her team leader and love of her life were fixed upon her. She quailed under the heat of his glare and though jealously ripped at her insides like so many claws she hastily dropped her head.

"I said she comes with us." The calculating eyes of Uchiha Sasuke moved from his cowed subordinate back to the slender Leaf-nin. "She comes with me. She _stays_ with me."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Happy Christmas

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	36. Family

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

_Dedi:_ This drabble is dedicated to **jin. toshikazu**

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_There's no time for us,  
There's no place for us,  
What is this thing that builds our dreams,  
Yet slips away from us,  
Who wants to live forever,_

* * *

**Family**

How long had it been? Sasuke didn't know. He had been sure that within a few days of his return to Konoha that the blonde female would reappear back in his life, but she hadn't. She was training hard, determined to become the next head of the Torture and Interrogation Department or at least had been at the time of their chance meeting some nine years past, the memory of which still heated his blood. Yet in all the time he had been held for interrogation he had gotten nether sight nor sound of the blonde.

And now almost six weeks on from his return he had finally been released and his one thought now was to find the girl for whom he had returned. Walking briskly through the crowded streets he paid no mind to the hate filled looks that came his way, too focused on his objective to care what others thought. He could see her so clearly in his mind, picture her face as it had been that last time so many years past, when she had lain sensual and relaxed in his embrace.

It had been than that he had promised her that one-day he would come back, and come back for her. He hadn't meant it to be so long, he meant to have been back sooner, but there was so much he had to do before he felt he could returned to village he had once called home. And so for nine years he had survived with only dreams to keep him warm through the nights.

But why was it, that now he was back, now that day had come and he was home she was nowhere to be found? Then through the crowed Sasuke spotted not the flash of pale gold that he longed to see, but the next best thing, a glimpse of cotton candy pink.

"Sakura!" Pushing people aside he almost leapt on the startled pink haired young woman. His relief was almost palpable, for if anyone could tell him of Ino's whereabouts it would surly be her long time friend and rival.

"Sasuke?" A little taken aback by such an emotional display from the normally stoic Uchiha, not to mention the intense burning look in dark onyx eyes, it took all of Sakura's will power to keep from backing away.

"Where is she?" He almost yelled, gripping the Haruno none too gently by the shoulders and shaking her as if by doing so he could sooner get her answer. "Where's Ino?"

"Sasuke…?" The medic-nin stared in horrified wonderment at her one time team-mate, dark and complex emotions swirling in her eyes. "She's… she's dead."

"What!?" So many emotions were conveyed in that one simple word that it almost took Sakura's breath away, she could see the feelings flickering across his face and felt her own heart crack in sympathy.

"N… nine years ago." Tears brimmed in sea green eyes and her face twisted with misery. It was only she who Ino had confide in, in those last few moments when she knew she was dying she had told Sakura the identity of the man so many wished to know. And it had been him, Uchiha Sasuke. "She died – "

But it was too late, for he was already moving. Running as if demons were behind him and her words fell of deaf ears. The village was a blur as Sasuke sped on, weaving in and out of the crowds, as he headed to the cemetery. Nine years? How could it be? When they had been together she had seemed so strong so full of life, sweet sixteen with her whole life before her. He couldn't believe it. It had to be some sort of trick, a genjutsu designed to test him, to find out if his loyalty was true.

But as he entered the grave yard walking past row after row of graves until he reached the palace where those of the Yamanaka clan were buried. He couldn't deny the truth of what he saw. Her name engraved upon the cold dark marble or the date on which she departed this world, just eight months after their fated meeting. And in front of the grave a blonde girl child stood with her head bowed as if in prayer.

"I don't know you." The child didn't turn to face him, didn't so much as raise her head but continued to stare at the grave of the young woman that Sasuke had slaughtered dozens for, ran miles to reach, given everything to be with only to find that he was to late.

"No," The word was more of a sigh, but he could not keep the bitter laughter from colouring his next words. "But why would you?"

After all who was there now who knew him? Who knew him for who and what he really was? The answer was no one, for the last person who had held that distinction, who had known him inside and out was now lying alone in a gave at his feet.

"I know nearly all of Konoha's ninja as well as many of the shinobi from the villages of our allies." The child sighed and bending placed three yellow roses on top of the grave, their colour so deep as to be almost of a golden hue. "Did you know her?"

"Yes. I knew Ino-san well. Very well." He felt nothing, no pain, no sorrow just a hollow emptiness that seemed to start at the very centre of his heart and spiral out until it filled every corner of his soul. Sasuke watched as the small blonde dipped her head in acknowledge meant of his words. "Did you know her?"

"No, she died before I could. But I have a picture." Standing once more the girl hugged her arms tightly around her torso, as if she was hugging something precious tight to her heart. As she tilted her head Sasuke could see the way her hair parted slightly over the knot that scurried her headband in place, from the back she looked barely ten if that and yet she had already graduated from the academy.

"I'm sorry for that. She was a very kind and beautiful person." And Sasuke felt something in his heart crack and splinter in to a thousand fragments. If only he had been able to see what she was sooner, than maybe things would have been different. Maybe he would have stayed, and maybe then she would not be lying under the cold hard ground. "But if you didn't know her than why do you come here?"

"If I don't then who else will?" There was a slight sadness in her voice, which Sasuke could not place. The Ino he had known had been well loved, if not always well liked, and he could see no reason why her loved ones would not come to see her now she lay at rest. Or why this exceptional girl, for she must be to have graduated at such a young age, would feel the need to come and pay her respects.

"I came." He almost whispered the words his voice cracked and broken and he could feel the warm heat as the first tears slowly began to wend their way down his cheeks. But in the back of his head he could already hear the voice scolding him, the voice that in years to come would blame him for that fate that befell her.

_Yes you came, but you were too late weren't you? Nine years too late. Like the stupid arrogant fool you've always been you just assumed she would always be there for you. Never once did you stop to think that she, just like everyone else you ever tried to get close to would one day be gone. You waited too long and now we've lost her, and it's entirely your fault. We've lost Ino!!_

"Yes, you did. Whoever you are." There was not a hint of curiosity in her tone, as if things as trivial as his identity were of no consequence to her. But he supposed that in her scheme of things the names of strangers who stood at the same gave side she did was not something of vital importance.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." The dark eyed man was curious as to what reaction his name would get from the young blonde.

"Uchiha?" She said as if tasting the name. "I have heard Sakura-san talking about you. You were her team-mate as well as that of Uzumaki Naruto, the sixth Hokage. You betrayed the village. Turned your back on those that loved you so that you might have revenge on one that hurt you. He, like I, was exceptionally gifted and there is always the risk of pushing those who are talented further than is wise. Pushing them to the point where, if not left alone, they will snap."

Sasuke was unsure how to respond to the statement for her words were without anger or hatred, a mere statement of fact with no trace of arrogance. He nodded his head, though why he didn't know for the child could not see since she was still standing with her back to him. But she seemed to take his silence as answer enough for it was almost five minuets before she spoke once again.

"I should be going now, my grandfather will worry." One small hand reached out and briefly caressed the cool stone of the monument that stood guard over the rarest flower Konoha ever grew.

"We can't have that." Sasuke said vaguely wondering why the girl did not say her parents would be worrying about her whereabouts. "But one thing before you go. What's your name child?"

"My name?" And for the first time she turned to look at him and he was caught in the intent gaze of a pair of impossibly large onyx eyes. Eyes that were so familiar, so well known to him even down to the tears that simmered in their inky depths, that they caused Sasuke's heart to skip erratically in his chest.

From under the headband, which bore the symbol of The Hidden Leaf Village, his own eyes stared back at him. "I am Katsumi of the Yamanaka clan. And Ino-san is my mother."

* * *

(A/N) Katsumi – a Japanese name meaning 'victorious beauty'.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	37. In The Storm

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished and persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

_Dedi:_ This fic is dedicated to **AkemiYumikov3**

M**use: **On with the fic!

* * *

_Every time I see the lightening,_  
_Every time I hear the thunder,_  
_Every time I close the window,_  
_When this happens in the summer,_  
_Oh the night is so inviting,_  
_I can feel that you are so close,_

* * *

**In The Storm**

"I'm sorry about all this Sasuke. You don't mind having to stay in my house do you?" Ino asked in a tentative voice.

She was sneaking glances at her idol, wondering what his answer would be, though she could give an accurate guess. A flash of lightning suddenly filled the small house with blinding silver white light and the accompanying roll of thunder crashed overhead.

They had returned late from a mission to find Konoha in the grip of the worst summer storm that either of them could remember. And after dropping of their reports at the Hokage tower, the Hokage herself had been nowhere in sight, had made a mad dash for Ino's home it being closest.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded his head in a non-committal gustier, but didn't voice his answer. He was far too caught up in surveying the surroundings he found himself in to vocalise a proper response.

The Yamanaka home was small, and nothing incomprehension to the Uchiha main house in which he had grown up. But Ino's home held a warmth and sense of comfort that, as far as he could remember, his childhood home had never done. Everything was clean, no surprise there what with the blonde kunoichi training to be a medic. But also everything was neat and nothing was out of place, which was something of a shock given Ino's bull in a china shop nature. In his mind he had built up a picture of what any home of Ino's would be like, chaotic and disordered just like the girl herself.

Inwardly grinning like a fool, or another blond ninja she could name, Ino grabbed Sasuke's hand and led him up the narrow flight of stairs towards the guest room that would be his for the night. She blushed slightly, not at the contact of his warm callused palm against hers, but at the fact the he allowed the contact and didn't tell her to stop. It was things like that that meant the most to her, the brief moments of intimacy that he allowed were far better than any stolen embrace might be. But that was just what Ino felt and was sure in her own mind that Sasuke held very different views, which was why she didn't dare steal a look at his face.

If she had turned around however, she would've seen the faintest hint of smile on the Uchiha's usually emotionless face and a tint of crimson on his pale cheeks.

"Here's your room, Sasuke." Ino said with a small smile as she proceeded the raven-haired male into the spare room decorated pleasingly in shades of pale blue and navy. As she moved into the room her hand slipped from his, that his grip on it increased slightly as if he did not what to release her, Ino dismissed as wishful thinking.

Slowly stepping in after his blonde host, Sasuke nodded his head once more, and gave a short, "Thank you."

As he advanced towards the bed, Ino could not stop herself from calling out, "If you need anything, I'm in the room just across the hall, directly opposite from you"

Sasuke nodded his head for the third and final time and gave a wave with one of his hand, signalling he understood. Once the door was safely closed the last surviving Uchiha let out a long breath. Something that he had been holding in ever since he walked behind Ino, whose rain slicked cloths were hugging her body like a second skin, into the Yamanaka family home.

'_Does she really not know that I feel uncomfortable around her? I suppose not.' _Sasuke stood looking at the closed door wondering if Ino could really have failed to sense his unease. _'Emotionless… how could see even think it, well all right I may appear to be so some of… most the time, but it doesn't mean I don't feel the same things as everyone else.' _

Shaking his head in the vaug hope it might clear his thoughts, he started to strip of his wet clothing and get ready for bed. _'I'm not cold and unfeeling it's just that I hide what I'm feel a lot better than most people. But being in the same space as her, working so closely with her, it's just so hard. And it's not the only thing that's hard. Ugh!' _

'_Stop thinking like that.'_ Sasuke mentally commanded himself; not that it did him any good, as he slipped between the sheets. What he needed now he decided was sleep, things would make far more sense in the cold light of dawn._ 'After all it was only a few weeks ago that I stopped thinking about her as just some clingy fangirl. Now if only I could stop thinking about how her cloths were clinging to that body of hers. AGH! How did this even happen? __**She's**__ the one that's been idolising __**me**__! Kami-sama help me.'_

Rolling onto his back the dark haired male stared blankly at the ceiling, for some reason he felt sleep would be a long time coming.

-------

Sasuke was not the only one lost deep in thought. In the room across the hallway, Ino was also trying to make some sense of the chaotic workings of her mine. Lying sprawled upon the bed, having already changed into her PJ's, her fingers playing with the light purple comforter, the mind walking kunoichi found her own mind beginning to wander. She rolled over and turning her body to the right, ended up facing the rain streaked window.

_'I can't believe that Uchiha Sasuke is spending the night in the room across from me.'_ Ino repressed a sigh, half caused be delight but half by irritation that she was acting like the stupid fangirl she had once been. She didn't like the girl she had been and was rather disgusted to find herself slipping back into old habits so easily.

_'He's staying here for the night so maybe tonight is the best time to tell him how I feel. Not any of that stupid… stupid… well any of that stupid stuff, just tell him the truth. But, what if he rejects me?' _The thought caused the blonde's stomach to roll, the idea of Sasuke's rejection making her feel slightly ill. Though in the long it would be better for her to know where she stood, so that she could focus her attention on trying to move on.

_'The only thing is that if I tell him now it'll be awkward all night, never mind tomorrow morning. So maybe it would be best to wait until morning, until he's rested, then tell him? But then again, surly he has to know already, it's not like I've ever kept my feelings for him a secret.' _Ideas and half-formed thoughts buzzed around Ino's head almost as if it had suddenly turned into a giant wasp nest.

_'Ugh, I guess it's just a good thing that daddy is still out on his mission.' _The mind walker thought, though part of her would rather of liked for Inoichi to be home. For all that he could be controlling and high handed and never though that anyone was good enough for his little princess, he always gave her good advice.

_'And if he were here he'd tell me to do what I know is the right thing. Tell Sasuke. If only for the sake of my own sanity, I can't go on just living in limbo. I know it'll hurt but I need to hear him to say that there is no hope, only then will I be able to move on and make a real life for myself. One that is not built around him.'_

The eighteen-year-old blonde stared unseeingly at the dark window for over an hour before finally letting out a deep sigh she gave up and then got up. Slowly Ino tiptoed across her room, opened the door carefully and quietly, knowing full well that even the slightest sound would be enough to rouse Sasuke.

Though afraid of waking her long time crush and short time mission partner, Ino still couldn't help but want to see him one more time before heading off to sleep. In the morning she would confess all to him and then he in turn would destroy her dreams so she wanted to make this, her last night of dreaming, count. It was both stupid and self-destructive but with the pain that was already headed her way the blonde wasn't going to stop for the risk of it hurting little more.

Silently opening the door to the guest-room, Ino slipped her head in through the gap and spied her hearts desire. Sasuke was fast asleep, gently breathing with his bear chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. The blue-eyed teen felt her heartbeat increase and her face began to warm up significantly as a blush seared her cheeks. A warm hot feeling arose in the pit of her stomach, making it feel as if she had just swallowed liquid fire.

She knew it was wrong to spy on him in such a way, it was an invasion of privacy. But even knowing this Ino crept over to the side of Sasuke's bed and stared wonderingly down upon the beautiful face that she had lusted after from such a young age. The dark blue/black hair, longer that it had been when he left the village all those years ago, was framing his face and his arms were spread out on the bed. His right hand was holding the top of the sheet, which had been pushed down to just above his waist.

Ino chucked in the privacy of her own head. _'I guess Sasuke-kun isn't all that uptight after all. He looks so peaceful when he's wrapped in sleep. Wait… when did I start thinking of him as __**Sasuke-kun**__ again?'_

Shaking her head, as if to try and rid herself of such thoughts, Ino turned to leave and almost gasped allowed when she felt and hand clamp tightly around her wrist. Slowly she turned her head back towards the bed and the person she had been so sure was fast asleep.

Inky eyes were watching her intently, but Sasuke seemed more amused then angry, something for which the blonde was grateful. But still sooner or later she was going to have to give him an explanation of her action, not something she was looking forward to. But when after almost a full minuet Sasuke finally spoke, his words scattered what little wits Ino had left of the winds of the storm that still raged outside.

"Going so soon?" Something dark was glittering in onyx orbs as the low tone of Sasuke's voice reached her ears. "And here was me hoping that you were going to keep me company."

Ino didn't get the time or chance to respond as with one deft move Sasuke tugged her off of her feet, and the blonde found herself sprawling on top of the bed. On top of Sasuke. But before she even had time to draw a breath or feel the heat of the blush the scorched her cheeks as her hands came into contact with his bare skin, Sasuke was already flipping over so that he could look down at her.

A triumphant smile pulled at the dark haired male's mouth as he leaned in to capture Ino's soft lips with his own, noting with pleasure the way that her breath hitched when she realised that under the cover of the bed sheet he was completely naked.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	38. 67 Percent

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished and persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

* * *

_I know a girl with the golden touch,  
She's got enough, she's got too much,  
But I know, you wouldn't mind,  
You could have it all if you wanted,  
You could have it all if it mattered so much,_

* * *

**67 Percent**

Uchiha Sasuke looked down at the paper in his hand yet again; hoping that by some miracle the score scrawled at the top in vivid red ink would have changed. It hadn't. The crimson number stared smugly at him from the right hand corner, 67 percent and underneath a very sarcastically worded comment from Tsunade-sensei. He was certain that some of the things she had written teachers were not allowed to say to students… ever… no matter how low a test score they got.

_This is the last time you get a free ride from me you bad boy. If you don't start getting your head down I'll be having you in my office before you can blink._

True, he knew that what she meant was it was the last time she'd let him scrape through with a low score and that if he didn't get to work she'd have him in detention so fast his head would spin. But the connotations that her words could have had were a far better threat, as well she knew. How could he have been stupid enough to think maths couldn't get any worse for him? Now he had that blonde haired bitch of a sensei after his blood.

Growling darkly to himself he stormed towards the classroom door, students scattering out of his way when they saw the scowl that twisted his normally handsome face. He was almost there when he collided with another member of the student body. There was a yelp of shocked surprise, a moment of confusion when the air in front of his face was filled with flying test papers and then a sharp pain as someone grabbed his arm in a desperate attempt to remain vertical.

The whole episode had taken no more than a handful of seconds and when Sasuke looked round ready to snarl at the culprit he saw no one. Logic kicked in as he reassessed the situation, he didn't believe in moving invisible walls. Looking down he saw the girl, a good head shorter than himself, her blue eyes and blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail identifying her as one Yamanaka Ino. Biting back the insult that was poised on the tip of his tongue, he didn't want to get into a verbal sparing match with the girl, he snatch one of the two retrieved test papers she was holding and marched towards the door.

"Emm… Sasuke-san?" The sound of her voice jerked him to a stop and he glared balefully over his shoulder at her. "Umm, I think you have my test paper."

The words 'Don't be so stupid' were already lining up behind his teeth when he looked down at the paper he held. Instead of Tsunade's bordering on slanderous description of him, not to mention a threat that boarded on sexual harassment, he saw a perfect score.

A perfect score!

The injustices of it all almost took his breath away as he wordlessly thrust the paper in her direction. This was Yamanaka Ino for the love of heaven. Blonde, big mouthed and second only to Uzumaki Naruto when it came to annoying the rest of the student population, himself included. It was rumoured that she was failing every class she was taking and yet here she was with an impeccable score while he, the genius, had got a measly 67 percent.

"Out of the way lovebirds some of us have places to be." The voice echoed liked a foghorn and the two quickly jumped back as their blonde ballistic missile of a sensei charged out of the classroom.

Sasuke looked up just in time to see the Yamanaka, who was once again holding both papers, stick her tongue out childishly at the retreating back. He coughed to get her attention and her head whipped around to face him. She was clearly embarrassed that he, the most wanted boy in their school, had seen her acting in such a way, not that she had any reason to be given that she was still holding his test. The same thought seemed to cross her mind for the slight flush faded from her cheeks as she held out the damning paper.

At least she wasn't laughing, that was something, Sasuke consoled himself. Though she was obviously biting down hard on the inside of her lip to keep from grinning or, more likely, smirking. Trying to force himself to relax, he smiled at the girl, though it probably looked more like a grimace, and took the offered test.

"Thanks." It was a bark and Sasuke was a little surprised that he had managed to spit the word out without braking his jaw in the process.

"Not a problem," Ino said waving off his thanks just as he made to leave the, now deserted, classroom. "You bad boy."

His speed as he spun on the spot would have rivalled that of a striking snake. His glare would have nailed her to the ground if it weren't for the fact she was doubled over, her face buried in her hands as she giggled like an idiot. No, she wasn't giggling; it was a deep rolling belly laugh that didn't look like stopping any time soon.

"Har, har, har." The Uchiha dead paned as he walked back over to the blonde after, first, kicking the classroom door shut. "Very fucking funny."

"Well you have to admit it is a bit funny." Ino spluttered through her chuckling as she managed to straighten up enough to wipe away the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. The look on his pale face said he didn't have to admit a damn thing and his actions back up the silent declaration when he lunged at her.

"Hey!" Blue eyes flashed indignantly as she started to thresh wildly against the vice like grip that held her upper arms. "What's the big idea!"

"This doesn't get out. Do you understand me?" Sasuke snarled shaking her by the arm. "No one finds out."

"First off," Ino bit out as she finally managed to pull free of his grip. "If you ever put your hands on me again with out permission, you can forget about Tsunade-sensei, I'll castrate you where you bloody well stand. Got it wonder boy? And second if I were you instead of worrying who's gonna find out I was _almost_ failing I'd be working my ass off to make sure that I _don't_ fail."

"You… You…" He spluttered indignantly, no one talked to him like that and, apart from the blonde sensei, no one threatened him. "You're almost failing everything."

"_Almost_," The blonde stressed the emphasis as she set about straightening up her uniform, the navy skirt and sky blue shirt having got ruffled during the scuffle. "There's a big difference between almost failing and actually failing. And besides, I'm not the one who is reputed to be a genius now am I?"

"Looking at that," The dark haired male grumbled, his tone grudging as he indicated her test with its faultless score. "I'm not so sure."

"Well unlike _some_ people," Again with the unneeded emphasis, which made it clear his subtle compliment had done nothing to plicate her. "I don't just get handed everything I want, my family isn't as loaded as yours. I have to earn what I get and pulling shifts in a florists really sharpens up your arithmetic, it's real life not some school test, you can't afford to mess up."

Pausing only long enough to toss him a disgusted look, she turned her back on him and marched towards the door with her noise in the air. The effect was a little spoiled when, because her noise was up in the air, she managed to smack her hip against a desk. Ino winced, stumbled slightly, but to her credit kept moving.

"Tutor me." Sasuke's voice was low when he spoke and the girl was almost on the other side of the room but he knew that she had heard him. Her sudden jolt was enough of a give a way.

"What?" Ino's tone was just as quiet as she turned to stare in stunned amazement at the Uchiha, almost as if she couldn't quite believe what her ears had told her they'd heard.

"I said tutor me, in maths." He repeated, a disarming smile spreading over his face as he walked towards her. Then he added for good measure, "Uh, please?"

"And what, exactly, do I get out of it?" The blonde raised one perfectly sculpted brow, but made no move to walk away, revealing that he at least had a chance of gaining her help.

"What d'you want?" His voice was still soft and it suddenly dawned on him how it would be easy for an observer to misinterpret the situation. Standing so close to Ino who had her head tilted up even as he tilted his down Sasuke found himself half ready to believe the situation was an intimate one. Indeed, he was almost leaning in to kiss her when Ino spoke and broke the moment.

"I tutor you, you tutor me." Her tone was all business as too was her expression, but her pose, hands on hips and chin, not to mention chest, thrust out was all aggressive determination. "Deal?"

"Uh… fine." Sasuke watched as her expression morphed to brighten into one of pure delight. Caught up in the non-existent moment as he had been that really was just about the last thing that he'd expiated her to request. "What d'you want me tutor you in?"

"Anything! Everything!" Ino cried with a grin as she bounced around him, her demeanour a cross between a kid in a sweet shop and an extremely playful good-natured puppy.

"Well that gives me room to manoeuvre." Sasuke said unthinkingly as he adopted the speech pattern that he always used when communing with members of the opposite sex. He realised his error a split second later.

"Oi!" The blonde snarled as she turned to face him, her eyes flashing danger signs as her index finger waved back and forth under his nose. "I meant what I said, one wrong move and your sex life is over."

He nodded dumbly at her as dark eyes remained fixed on the waving digit and he made a mental note that to treat Ino like any of the girls he was used to associating with would not be a good idea. The Yamanaka was an emotional roller coaster, skipping from mood to mood like the human equivalent of a homicidal jumping bean. It was clear that she was not someone who he could push around and there was no way she would stand for any of his normal bullshit, as she had already made quite plain.

Pity, as it had already become apparent to him that under that brash and somewhat annoying exterior the blonde was definitely attractive in her own quirky sort of way. But it was just his luck that out of every female in the school she would turn out to be the one who only wanted him for his brain.

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


	39. Horror

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

* * *

Summery 

Drabble Series - Two completely different people. Sometimes they are like ships that pass in the night and sometimes their lives are twisted and intertwined. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished and persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

* * *

_If I was your vampire,_

_Certain as the moon,_

_Instead of killing time,_

_We'll have each other until the sun,_

_If I was your vampire,_

_Death waits for no one._

* * *

**Horror**

It was horrific. It was like waking up after a nightmare only to find out that the monsters that had been hidden beneath the bed were still there and it didn't matter how much you wished them away they would always be there. The time when pulling the blanket over your head was enough to banish the demons you saw had faded and the worst thing was the ghastly forms that haunted the waking hours had the faces of those who had once been deeply loved.

Ino stood rooted to the spot, trying to calm her frantic thoughts, to think clearly and find some way out of the situation in which she found herself caught. But it was so hard. Though it was not the man watching her that rendered her incapable of thought or action. Not the unsettling gleaming golden eye, pupils' slits like those of a snake, set in a deathly pale yet somehow beautiful face framed by long dark inky tresses. The smile twisting thin lips, something hard and cruel that promised pain, all by passed the blonde female.

Her whole being was focused on the second man, the one in whose grasp she was tightly held. She was pressed closely to him and yet could not feel the beat of his heart nor the rise and fall of his chest and his hands were icy could against her own skin. Ino felt tears prick the backs of her eyes as her hair was moved aside and he nuzzled at the warm flesh of her neck. He nipped lightly at her soft skin, but when his mouth settled over the pulse spot on her throat, his tongue tracing the sweetness of her, Ino could feel no trace of hot breath.

She had been so stupid, she knew at the time that her actions were rash and foolish and yet she had been incapable of thinking them through. He was dead they had told her. Sakura sobbing hysterically her cries wrenched from her throat and Naruto pale and trembling, the normally energetic ninja seemingly robed of both speech and the will to move. It wasn't that she had disbelieved them, in the face of such evidence it had not been possible to doubt the truth of their words for even a moment, but Ino had needed to see for herself.

After so long waiting and hoping and loving, the mind walking kunoichi needed some form of closure. And so she had run blindly, not thinking, not caring, needing to find something, anything that could bring the current chapter of her life to a close. To brake the never-ending circle of hope and despair in which she found herself trapped.

She went looking for a dead man, but the reality of what she found was far worse than anything Ino could have imagined even in her darkest hour. "Sas… Sasuke."

_Dead man walking_.

Ino heard his soft grunt of amusement and shuddered violently, a wave of goose bumps rolling over her body, as his mouth latched onto the lobe of her left ear. She knew she should fight, to try and brake free. But the Yamanaka also knew that it was pointless to struggle, his grip was like iron and he could have easily snapped her neck like a dry twig if he so desired. Eyes, the colour of rain, rolled back in her head as sensation threatened to overwhelm her senses and send her tumbling headfirst into oblivion.

His hands were everywhere, making it difficult to think and almost impossible to breathe. It was almost as if the world had been ripped from its axis and was now spinning freely on some crazy orbit that left Ino confused and dazed. The distant stars seemed to dance even as she watched the chill glimmering points of light filling the entire universe. Theirs the only light save for that of the moon; half-shining pearly white, half cast in deep shadow. And it was almost as if they were the only two people left in the entire world, for the snake like demon had vanished and the blonde was left doubting if he had ever really been there to start with.

A sharp tooth grazed the sensitive skin on Ino's throat, and she felt the jolt as her heart skipped a beat. The organ was pounding frantically within the confines of her ribcage, like some wild bird that was fanatically trying to free its self from a cage. The laughter in his tone was all too evident as he whispered in her ear, his voice rich and dark like honey and gravel. "Just one little prick Ino."

"Well it's not going to be yours mister!" She had meant the retort to come out dripping with scorn, but fear and confusion drove her voice to a much higher pitch than normal. His hands were so tight around her wrists that Ino felt sure that in a few hours time, ugly blackish purple bruises would mar the fair skin and the marks of his finger would remain evident on her flesh for days to come.

"Really," Without warning Sasuke spun her violently on the spot causing the blonde to stumble and fall against him. Regaining her footing Ino raised her head and was instantly transfixed by the twin pools of swirling crimson that were fixed solely on her. "Tell me you don't still want me and I'll stop."

That was easy enough, Ino thought, all she had to do was say that she'd moved on and she would be able to flee from the living nightmare in which she found herself. All she had to do. The words were caught in the back of her throat; her tongue was heavy as lead in a mouth that was suddenly as dry as dust.

"Tell me Ino!" It was a command and this time the power behind the words struck her like a physical blow, but still she was unable to utter a single word.

The six pointed ebony stars in pulsing scarlet orbs, held Ino frozen where she stood. Even had she not been robbed of her voice, she doubted that she would have been able to refute the truth of her feelings. For too many years she had adored and idolised the man in whose vice like grip she was held. She had loved him as she had loved no other before, and they both knew it.

His mouth crashed down on to hers, and all Ino could do was gasp as she felt his hands winding round her waist, pulling her closer to a body, hard and cold as marble. She felt his tongue pushing past her lips and teeth, exploring the warm cavern of her mouth and without conscious thought returned the gesture. Her hands moved up his torso, dextrous fingers tracing the contours of muscle, until on hand gripped tightly to his shoulder while the other was fisted in the ebony strands of his hair.

It was too easy to get caught up in the moment, to surrender to the feelings that had filled most of her life. Nothing mattered except here and now. She was lost; nothing existed except for touch of his fingers on her skin, his skilful mouth moving over her own and the desperate beating of her heart in her breast. Ino felt as if she were simultaneously falling and flying, the world was spinning unchecked beneath her feet. The feeling was serial, wonderfully freeing and yet somehow terrifying too as if some great danger lurked just round the next corner. And only then did the frantic massage her brain had been trying to send finally manage to brake through.

The arms that had been holding her tightly were now raised and a pair of strong hands, pale and cold as moonlight were now wrapped tightly around her neck and were slowly and inexorably constricting around her throat. They pressed down on Ino's windpipe until white lights danced in front of her eyes and the scream that formed in the back of her throat never managed to escape her lips. The sudden pain as unnaturally sharp canines pierced her lower lip and flooded her mouth was the rich, coppery taste of her own blood.

The dark black pool of unconsciousness dragged at her mind, pulling her down into a cold world filled with darkness. And the last thing her oxygen starved brain registered before oblivion claimed her were the words he whispered almost seductively in her ear.

"Now we can be together forever."

* * *

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth


End file.
